Crazy Diamond
by SummerStream
Summary: A girl on the run from Decepticons comes to discover a necklace that was given to her has strange properties. She meets a bot along the way that decides she and the necklace may be of use.
1. The Narrow Way

**AN: Alright, I must have written this author's note 3 or 4 times, now. I can't seem to get out what I'm thinking, but I think I got it, this time around. What you're looking at here is... think My Inner life but written by someone a little less brain-dead and a little more self-aware(i think)**

 **If you don't know what My Inner Life is, God bless you. If you do, God rest your soul.**

 **I don't want you to think "Ah shit, My Inner Life but with a robot" because it's not entirely that. For the most part, it's missing the weird tiger sex, terrible character development, and the weird breeding fetish the main character has. My goal was to write about a fantasy and make it somewhat enjoyable. And please do not fear, there will be no robot-on-human sex, I promise.**

 **This story is not going to take itself nearly as serious as MIL. It's ridiculous, it's over the top, the main character is a nutjob, but it will have its moments. I'm not gonna go on a 4-page rant about criticism. If you wanna give me some advice, please feel free to, just be respectful is all.**

 **Other than that, I don't have much to say. I'm gonna drop 4 chapters at once so that there's as much context as possible without cramming your heads with too much. Every week, I'll be adding 2 chapters, just whenever the hell I feel like it. I'm not too confident in my writing abilities, so I'm a little nervous about posting this, but I do hope you enjoy this in some way, shape, or form.**

* * *

Chapter 1:

Remember when you were young? We all have that turning point in our lives where we witness something that makes us realize the danger of some unknown force. That unknown force can be anything, forces of nature, other people, the world. Maybe even something beyond this world. Do you remember being happy and carefree? Everything is perfect until that turning point. You feel scared and worried. You feel confused and you're not sure what to do. I remember the turning point in my life. I was maybe eleven or twelve, I wasn't very old when that moment happened.

First, I need to backtrack. A few years ago prior to this, something strange happened on a quiet night. Stars were falling one night and they reached the ground. It was more than a few rocks. Much more than a few chunks of space junk. They were aliens. The impossible had happened that night and thus solved the eons-old mystery; are we really alone? These aliens were mechanical creatures. They were giant robots, to put it simply. They seemed to be just the right size to be able to turn into cars, trucks and even planes. They could disguise themselves as the most unlikely of things. I remember hearing a sort of _urban legend_ that one's been disguised as a city, but I never really believed _that_ one.

There were Autobots, the good guys that wanted to help the humans and who took refuge on Earth. We were happy to have them for quite some time. Then there were the Decepticons, which wanted to wipe us all out. They had a conflict over some sort of power source they called the All-Spark when they all first got here. It was something important to them that was flung to Earth during a war that left their planet in ruins. Since then, it's been on and off fighting over a variety of causes and goals between them.

Now, let me tell you about an incident. _The_ incident. I should let you know that this wasn't just my turning point, this was a turning point for the _entire_ world. I remember the day. It was a completely clear afternoon; there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. And of course, I was spending that beautiful day on the couch watching some mind-numbing kid's program on TV.

I was there alone when the broadcast just... cut off. It just stopped. The black screen morphed into static and white noise. I remember trying to change the channel, but then to find _all_ of them were like this. I don't remember what I was thinking, at the time. It happened so suddenly that I may not have been thinking anything. The seconds felt like minutes, and I remember seeing something starting to form in the static.

I thought I just imagined things. I was pretty prone to it back then. You know that feeling when something shocks the hell out of you? You don't physically jump, but you feel it inside of you, and your stomach starts to sink? That's what I felt when I realized something _was_ beginning to show up. This wasn't anything I was imagining.

From what I could tell, it was a face, but at the moment I couldn't make out much. Slowly, the static was dispersing, and I realized this wasn't anything ordinary. It wasn't a human face. It was a bot, like the ones that came from space, all those years ago. As the static cleared, I could see he was a deep red color and elderly looking. His eyes were glowing blue, and he had strange, long, silver strands of wire that appeared to be facial hair.

Dim light reflected off of a metal circlet of some sort on his forehead. I remember watching him look up and feeling my stomach drop further. It was unexpected and almost chilling. He seemed oddly graceful like he knew he was someone important. And then he spoke in a gruff and guttural voice.

" _Defenders of Earth...we have come for your natural resources to rebuild our damaged planet. We then will transfer all we need...we will leave your world in peace. For such peace to exist, you must immediately exile the Autobot Rebels you have harbored._

 _Non-negotiable._

 _Renounce the rebels... we await your reply."_

That's what he said. This was quote had transcripts _everywhere_ on the internet and was even recorded. This transmission was then followed by a _massive_ invasion in Chicago. I live nowhere near Illinois, but I remember watching news footage and watching Hell break loose. The news helicopters were all shot down at one point, and we didn't see much of the disaster.

To make a long story short, that guy was an Autobot. His name was Sentinel Prime, and he turned on us to try and restore his homeworld. He tried to transport this entire world to ours and take stuff from us and bring it back to his planet. This probably would have ended up bringing about the end of civilization and eventually the end of humanity itself, some speculate.

Catching a glimpse of this planet was unfathomable. This whole incident was unreal and it made me realize we're certainly not alone. Earth is not the only thing that exists. Earth is not the center of the universe and Earth could be in _serious_ danger. The world was thrown into chaos for a pretty long time. The services working with the Autobots were not happy. Civilians were not happy. The death toll had hit the _thousands_. The battles, the casualties, the destruction. All of the anger that had built over the years now consumed everyone. So their solution was a purge of their kind any of their human allies. I got swept up into this mess over a stupid, _stupid_ reason.

I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Vega. I've been out on the run for a little while. It's the Red Scare all over again, but maybe even worse because thousands of lives have been ripped away over this. It started out with well-known figures being outed as "Autobot Apologist" or even Decepticon allies, but it wasn't long until they began picking on civilians as well. People get paddy-wagoned left and right over this. It takes only a tiny sliver of suspicion from any Joe-Schmoe down the road to end up getting in trouble with the Secret Services. Some people are jailed, some are even outright killed, some are known to even just "disappear" from their last known locations.

Now, I am not directly an "Autobot Apologist", but I had friends that were taken away and even killed for siding with them. I feel very bad for the Autobots. I just don't see the point in this needless slaughter of their kind. That isn't what had the Secret Services knocking at my door one night, however. Oh no, it was something way stupider. Stupid as hell on my part, something I should have known better than to do. This whole event sparked a lot of debate online. My stupid-ass would get on and spew the occasional "Sentinel Prime did nothing wrong" PURELY as a joke and that was enough to have the Secret Services at my door. _I don't wanna talk about it._

I probably should have known better. When people close to me started getting framed, I figured it was time to go. They took my friends and even some of my family. I was probably already on a list somewhere, and I could've been next at any moment. So I took that as my cue to pack my bags and go. That's what I've been up to. I've been running through the boonies, the past few weeks.

I panicked when I was packing. I grabbed clothes, food, money, and essentials, but I came to realize I didn't pack a pillow or any blankets. I could deal with it at first when it was the middle of summer. Now cold weather is setting in and I have many, _many_ regrets. I didn't take much with me. I only took a few things to keep me happy. I grabbed yarn to crochet something to together with, of course. Crochet was always my thing. I brought my favorite sweaters and I brought along my special necklace that a friend gave to me before she was taken away.

On this particular night, there was a small patch of woods that I decided to crash in. It was sandwiched in between a field full of brown, wilting corn stalks and another field that was completely barren. The leaves were still just barely clinging to the trees, most of them turning their sickly oranges, yellows, and browns. There were just enough leaves to keep me hidden back here despite the full-moon, tonight. I kind of made a mess of my campsite. Around me were a few empty food cans and some water bottles, as well as the smoldering remains of a campfire I put out not long ago.

I laid around with my head propped up on my bag, staring off into space. I guess you could say quite literally. I was combing over the stars, spotting constellations. Just the usual nights, for me. I've always had a fascination with space and stars. However, these days it's not as fun to look up and ask myself _'is there anyone else out there?'_ And with that, something broke my focus. Let me ask you something... how many times would you be chased down by Decepticons before you'd say ' _fuck it'_? Now, I'd love to do just that. I wish I could just help them get what they're looking for and be done with it.

Problem is, I don't know _why_ they've been doing this. It's not like I'm gonna just stop and nicely ask the next one that comes at me with its guns blazing. No, my ass is getting the hell out of there. It's not like I can get help, being a fugitive and all. What would the cops even do about it? In the silence of the night, I felt a sudden vibration pierce the ground. And another. And another. I sat up and took a quick look around. In the distance through the trees, I noticed a massive, towering, figure. I always find myself feeling threatened by shadows at night. Silhouettes and figures of any kind are never a good thing, in my eyes. Especially giant robot figures.

It halted and in an almost ghastly manner, it turned around and I noticed the faint red glow radiating from its face, presumably its eyes. It seemed to be searching for something. Or _someone_. An immediate fight-or-flight instinct kicked in and I decided I'd choose the latter. Thing was, this was the middle of the woods. While I could easily hide, the forest floor is filled with sticks, dead leaves and other nature things that make noises. Any sounds I'd make could lead this thing right to me. I spent very little time thinking of a plan. I quickly grabbed a hold of my bag and I figured I'll just slip out of the woods and maybe find some spot to hide in until this thing goes away. I just can't figure out what it is that's leading them to me, of all people. Or even how they're tracking me down, for a matter of fact.

While the moonlight is nice and all, it became more of my enemy than anything. I was already on high-alert for any sticks or leaves I could end up trampling on, but keeping out from under the moonlight peeking through the leaves was also a challenge as well. As the fields were nearing my sight, I began to feel pretty confident. I even managed to scale a wide-creek stealthily. It was a little hard to locate stones to step on in the dark, but besides that, I crossed with relative ease.

It was difficult getting over the dug-out the stream had made. The soil would just keep crumbling below my feet and sending me back down. I noticed some roots from a tree that was peeking over the edge and I used those to pull myself up. When I reached the top, I dusted myself off a bit and I turned to look back. I really wish I just kept going. The silhouette from earlier was maybe a few yards away from the other side of the creek. The moonbeams reflected off it's metal body and exposed in the light, I could see it had a set of fangs or tusks. I could also see 4 red dots glowing. It had a second set of eyes I didn't even notice before and its body was a deep-grey, almost black. The bot stared at me and I stared back.

This stare-down went on for maybe a few seconds but it felt like _eons_. Suddenly it leaped across the creek and toward me and at that moment all sense of logic flew out the window. I ran screaming out of the woods as the beast chased after me. As I ran, I turned around and watched it unsheathe a massive claw. I could hear the wind whiz by as it angrily swiped at me while growling, unlike any beast or animal I had _ever_ heard. I didn't know what to do. Usually, when these guys attack, it's somewhere I can get away or hide, but there isn't really anywhere to go in a barren field. Turning back into the woods was probably not a good idea. My only plan was to run toward a road on the other side of the field. It was so close, yet so far away.

I picked up speed and sprinted as fast I could away from this thing, but it just wasn't enough. It slashed me right by the heels, tripping me and ripping up chunks of grass beneath my feet. I fell right on my face, but I quickly rolled over to my back. I tried crawling back, but it caught my leg and had its claw raised.

"Where is the shard, fleshling?!" It hissed at me in a gritty, low voice. It raised its claw ready to attack.

Shard? I parted my lips to speak, but the only thing that came out was a few stuttering vowels that almost sounded like words. This seemed to infuriate the bot as it then hissed in my face and threatened me once again with its claw.

I don't know what I would have possibly done if it wasn't for what happened next. Before I knew it, the bot was suddenly impacted by an explosive, and it cried out in pain. Its back had been shot by some sort of projectile and when it collapsed on the ground beside me the only thing on my mind was the word 'escape.' I tried to gain my footing back and scamper off, but the bot grasped at my legs and pulled me back down, desperate to not let me get away. I began to pry at its massive metal fingers at attempt to pull them off, but the bot was suddenly grabbed by its neck and yanked up off the ground. The bot let go of me and dropped me back into the grass.

When I finally regained some sense of composure, I was shocked to see another bot had joined the scrap. This one didn't seem to be interested in me, however. He quickly threw the bot down, and he gave me a quick glare through a green-tinted visor over his face. His attention went back to the bot. He roughly planted a foot on the bot's chest, and a strange-looking weapon of some sort began to assemble over his left arm. It almost looked like a canon and at the end of it were three sharp-looking prongs, it looked like. He stood over the bot triumphantly, watching the weapon ready itself.

"My sensors have led to you. You're the one with the shard," The bot with the covered face spoke with a sharp grumble. "Give it up, and I'll let you live."

The bot under his foot groaned, still writhing in pain. "The human... has it!" My heart sank into my stomach. Words evaded me. I couldn't speak, much less protest to this thing.

"Do you think you can fool me?" He then replied. This bot then glanced back at me for a moment, then quickly turned back to the bot. His visor came apart, revealing his face. I could make out his two eyes like lights, glowing green. I don't think I've ever seen any other bot sporting _green eyes_ like that.

He seemed to be thinking for a moment. But then suddenly in a swift motion, the green-eyed bot sunk the weapon deep into the chest cavity of the beast-like mech as it flailed. When the weapon was withdrawn, the bot's limbs fell lifelessly to the ground, and the weapon appeared to have pulled something out from its chest. Some sort of blue, glassy orb.

An icy tension was blown on the steel breeze. The wind felt hard against my burning skin as I grew very, _very_ nervous when his green eyes turned and pierced my own. He came to me in a slow stride. My guard was up as I watched him slowly kneel and look down at me. Before he could say anything, I began to run my mouth.

"I- I don't know- I have no idea what he was," I babbled

"Don't play games with me," He growled.

"I- I'm not lying to you, I don't know what he was talking about-" I spoke really fast to him

He didn't look very amused. For a moment he pulled down his visor. Maybe he was running some sort of scan. He was silent for a few seconds before removing it, again.

"Your necklace,"

"What-"

"Hand it over."

I stared at him and blinked a few times. I didn't have time for confusion or protest. I immediately unclasped the necklace and held it up to him. He then held out a hand, and I place it over his metal digits. He stood up and dangled the piece of jewelry between his fingers and observed it for a moment. He didn't say anything. He then promptly pulled a gun on me.

I yelped slightly and jumped back. "I'm not lying to you! They've been chasing me down and-" I quickly spouted as I hid my face in my arms. "I had no idea what they wanted, but I'll give it to you, I'll give you whatever, just please leave me be-!"

"You don't know what this is?" He asked me

"No, not at all!" I replied stupidly.

He withdrew the weapon and slung the barrel over his shoulder. "Where did it come from?"

I tried to relax for a moment and speak to him. "I'm... not exactly sure... it was given to me,"

"And it's been leading them to you?"

I didn't say anything.

He lowered the necklace and looked back down at me. "What is your name?"

"It's," I had the idea in my head for a moment to tell him a fake name. But that may not have been a good idea. "Vega."

"Vega?" He repeated back. I nodded. "I have something to ask of you. I need your assistance. Either comply, or you will be killed,"

"Assistance?"

"There's been an influx of Decepticon activity in this area. I have been tasked to… _'extract'_ them all. If what you say is true, and this necklace is what they're detecting, then you can be useful to the completion of this mission."

"You want me to become... _bait_?"

"For lack of a better word, yes," He knelt down and took my arm between his pointer and thumb before roughly lifting up my arm and dropping the necklace back into my hand. He then grasped his giant hand around my body and stood up, holding me up to his face. "They've been closing in around this area, thanks to _you_. We don't have to go far."

I didn't even agree to any of this...


	2. On the Run

Chapter 2:

I didn't say anything. I just held a tight grip on my necklace, nervously. He stared at me blankly as I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"You don't know what that is at all, do you?" He spoke.

"What?"

"Inside of that jewel is a shard of the All-Spark embedded inside of it,"

"I had no idea," I opened my palm and stared at the jewel for a moment. It was a hazy blue with a grey-tinted center. _Quite a crazy diamond._ "Sounds like you ain't kidding," I mumbled. I went deep into thought for a moment. The friend who gave up this necklace to me _did_ work with the Autobots for awhile. I had no idea she what she was really giving me. At that moment, I had so many questions I wish I could ask her. But she's gone now. I snapped back into reality, and suddenly he knelt down to drop me in the grass beside the road. I didn't even realize he brought me up here. When I looked up, I watched how in mere seconds, he took on the form of super sleek matte black vehicle. I jumped up and refastened my necklace and took in what was in front of me.

"Holy shit," I audibly exclaimed. This motherfucker turns into a Lambo. I walked closer and took a good look at this vehicle form of his. I've heard of his kind being able to do this, but I've never actually witnessed it first-hand.

"Are you just going to stand there?"

I jumped at the sudden disembodied voice, but I realized it was him. I never thought my life would lead up to the point where a car would be _speaking_ to me. I guess he wanted to get inside, as naughty as that may sounds. When I was a kid, I was taught not to get into cars with strangers. I wasn't sure what the protocol was for strange robots that _are_ the cars. With a bit of hesitation, I reached for the driver door handle and opened it up. Sure, this was one hell of a nice car, but I felt my stomach knot up. I didn't feel too good about this whole "bait" thing.

It's not like I can turn back now, he'll kill me. It's not like I can't run to the police, either. It's not like I could outright tell them I was kidnapped by a robot. What would they even do? This car is pretty low to the ground, despite how short I am, It was a little hard climbing inside. I reluctantly took a seat, and before I could even settle, the door slammed, and the vehicle quickly took off.

I quickly I began to panic. For some reason, I thought it'd be a good idea to put my hands on the wheel and at least look like I'm doing something. Cars don't really drive themselves, so if we pass anyone, it won't look too suspicious. Well, as _unsuspicious_ as a speeding _$500,000_ \+ car could look. I prayed we wouldn't be pulled over. What do I even tell the cops in a situation like this? I'm wasn't entirely sure where the hell we were going, but the vehicle suddenly came to a screeching halt. The door practically flew open, and I was flung out onto the pavement. I looked up, and I noticed we were still in the middle of nowhere.

I was still in a bit of a daze after falling out onto the road. I think we may have ended up on the other side of the field we were just in. I could see the dead corn stalks and the faint smoke smoldering up from the woods from that fire I started, earlier. I turned back around to the car which was in mid-transformation and back in its humanoid robot form, now. His face was masked in a faint green glow from his visor. With a quick flick of his wrist, he unsheathed a hook-like weapon over his arm that was covered in barbs. _He could probably gouge out hearts with that thing._

"Get in the field,"

"What?"

"Did I stutter?"

I didn't say anything. He said nothing more. _He looked at me. I looked at him._ He finally had enough and took the liberty of grabbing me by the back of the collar of my sweater and tossing me into the corn. My face was the first thing to make contact with the dirt. The dried, rotting, stalks beneath me made a very loud "crack" when I landed.

I sat up and checked for blood, and I was surprised to find my face was unscathed as far as I could tell. I wasn't sure what exactly he wanted me to do. I turned around to look for him, but he seemed to have vanished without a trace. This night couldn't possibly get any worse. Does he expect me to stand around and just wait here to get killed? I wanted to call for him, but it's not like I know his name. It didn't even cross my mind to ask, at the time. I slowly rose to my feet and took a few shaky steps forward. I pushed aside a few stalks to see the way in front of me.

I couldn't see much even in the light of the full moon. The dead cornstalks were pretty dense. If what he told me was true and there were more Decepticons in this area, I could be walking straight into danger. Especially if he actually _knows_ for a fact, there could be one here. He must have a way of detecting them.

I spent some time bumbling around the corn field in the dark like an idiot. Listening to the dead plants and dirt crackling under my feet was somewhat satisfying. You'd think this time of year the farmer tending to this field would have mowed this all down by now. As I walked, I found myself distracted by the night sky. I always admired how dark it'd get out here. I never knew this many stars could be visible. As I gazed up, I pieced together the constellation Andromeda. _How pretty._ At that moment, I figured I better stop there and keep moving on before I got distracted. Before I could even lift a leg, something ran into my foot. I looked down and noticed two little dots like glowing rubies looking up at me.

I was utterly confused. I squinted my eyes, straining to see it clearly in the dark. It was a tiny bot. It almost looked like a box on wheels, by what I could tell. The red eyes were familiar. It'd had to be a Decepticon. I can't believe I was dragged off for this. I bent over to pick it up, but it tried to back away. I leaned in a little closed and scooped the little guy up in my arms. It was a little heavier than I anticipated.

It looked up at me and gave me a whiny, high pitched 'beep boop,' in a confused-sounding manner. It was actually adorable.

"Is-is this it?" I muttered to myself.

The little mech _beep-booped_ again. I wonder what Green-Eyes will think of this. It's not like this thing is _any_ kind of threat, but he may want to see it. I placed the little guy under my arm, and I turned around. As I walked off, the whole way all I heard was

" _Beep-boop-"_

 _"beep-boop-"_

It'd pause.

 _"beep-boop-"_

This thing wouldn't stop _beep-booping_ , and it was starting to get on my nerves.

"What is your problem?!" I shouted at it like I was expecting a reply or something. It kind of just stared at me blankly and went completely silent. I suddenly heard the _'whir'_ of an engine in the distance. I sounded like it was coming from the left of me. Before I could fully turn my head to ponder, a massive truck came _careening_ through the corn.

The scream that came from my throat was inhuman as I dived out of its way. It quickly made a sharp U-turn, and it's tires spun in the dirt. It came screeching toward me for a few meters before it jumped up and transformed into that of a robot. This one was _enormous_. So I guess I was wrong. There was a threat out here. The little bot I was now gripping tightly in my arms began to wiggle around. I didn't realize it at first, but it was trying to escape. Suddenly, from its chest, a small arm popped out. On the end of it was a rod and with a quick jab it electrocuted not just one - but both of my arms. I yelped and practically threw the little bastard across the field.

It immediately popped back up onto its wheels and rushed toward the bigger bot, which lowered its arm. It then rolled on the larger bot's forearm and up its shoulder where it hid in a small slot over the big bot's back. During this, I could have sworn I saw a dark shadow rise in the distance. I was hoping this thing didn't have any other friends. I picked myself up off the ground and took off running. The Decepticon then shot at the ground behind me, the explosion flinging me forward a few feet. You'd think I'd learn since running didn't work last time, either. I rolled over and on-looked in dismay as it came toward me. I quickly jumped up to my feet to face the mechanical monster.

I stood there with a faux-fierce look on my face. My back was straight, and my fists were clenched. If had to face this thing, I was going to face this thing _like the man that I'm not._ Before I knew it, this thing was in my face, and it immediately began barking the usual demands for the shard at me. It didn't let my stance falter. I tried to act so toughly to this thing, but the truth is I would have cowered like a bitch if I didn't know what I know, now. This mystery of why I was being pursued like this finally has an answer.

"I won't give up this shard to you," I boldly stated.

It made me feel braver and more in control, for some reason. Well, brave until I was staring down the barrel of a massive canon. My heart sunk quicker than a lead coffin and I realized _I seriously fucked up, here_. I was too frozen with fear to jump back, even.

What kind of logic is this, anyway? If he incinerates me, how is he going to get the shard? In a shaky voice, I shouted: "I-I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

"Why not?" The mech snarled.

"I'll show you why," A gruff voice taunted in the distance. I swiftly turned and noticed Green-Eyes had actually come back for me. He couldn't have picked better timing, too. While the Decepticon was distracted by his presence, I took this opportunity to dart off and hide in the brush.

I didn't go far. I ducked down and peered silently with the stalks cloaking me from the two. As far as I could tell. With no hesitation, the Decepticon raised his cannon and blasted it. The bullet - or whatever it was that came through the barrel barely grazed Green-Eyes' shoulder. It was either a warning shot, or this Decepticon had a very bad aim. I couldn't tell since there's no context, here.

It made Green-Eyes pretty angry it seems, as he began ferociously swiping at the Decepticon with his hook. It seemed to be a fruitless effort as the Decepticon lunged back and jumped up to its feet. The two broke out in a violent melee-weapon battle. Green-Eyes had quite literally ended up German-suplexing that Decepticon. It shook the entire ground, and I decided _it was time to get the fuck up out of there_.

I turned around and pushed my way through the stalks, trying to creep out of there unnoticed. I was being a little loud. The crunching as I barged through equated to that of throwing potato chip bags at the wall. But I doubt they'd notice. I heard a loud "bang," and the ground rumbled. I turned around to see the Decepticon had Green-Eyes pinned to the ground as clawed at him in an animalistic manner.

I actually felt kind of concerned for the guy. "A-are you okay?!" I shouted.

But he didn't like that. Despite his situation, he turned to me with a glare and planted a hand on the Decepticon's face and forced its head up. He then dug the barrel of a cannon he swiftly unhooks from his hip into its throat. With a bright burst of light from the weapon, he blasted the thing's head right off its body. He lifted the limp corpse off of himself and tossed it aside. Concerning part is, _he didn't break eye contact with me._

"You see someone is shot and tackled and your first notion is to ask ' _Are you ok?"_ He replied disdainfully. Couldn't argue with that.

As he said this, he sat up and composed himself. I didn't really know what to say to him, now. I looked down at my feet and kicked at the soil slightly. Without looking up or saying a word, I turned around and began to shuffle away from the scene.

"Where do you think you're going?" My heart shot up into my throat as my head darted up. I turned around and watched him stride toward me, again. He stopped in front of me, and I looked up and him and whimpered. His emerald eyes were locked on to me. Menacing.

"Can't I go now?" I raised my voice so he could hear me. "I helped you out like you asked."

"You're too useful to let scurry off," He said to me, tilting his head slightly. He then reached out tried to wrap his fingers around me, but I recoiled back. I looked up at him with fear in my eyes. He stopped for a moment and stared back, looking aggravated by my defiance before catching me in a quick motion. "It's in my best interest hold on to you and that shard of yours."

He carried me to the road and dropped on the grass. Just like last time. Before he could transform, I gathered some courage to speak up to him.

"Why would I go with you?" I protested.

He turned his head and looked down at me before bringing his visor back over his face and looking away. "You've seen too much," He replied. Plain and simple, I suppose. "You could always die, and in any other circumstance, you would have. But I'm afraid you have far too much potential."

Once again I was at a loss for words. Before I knew it, I was snatched up once again, and I guess he transformed around me because next thing I knew I was inside of a car. It happened so fast; I couldn't really process it at first. I instinctively had my hands on the wheel, and the vehicle took off without any warning.

 _'What the FUCK am I going to do, now?'_ I thought to myself. What am I supposed to do about being kidnapped and hauled off to an unknown location by a car robot? Is this _even_ real life? My eyes darted all around the interior of the vehicle. I noticed the windows were tinted very darkly. Is this even street-legal?

The steering wheel was suddenly jerked out of my grip as we hit a sharp turn. We were going at an astronomical speed. I didn't even wanna look at the speedometer. At this time of night, there were no other drivers. I guess that's a warrant for him to tear through the streets like this.

Typically, buildings and homes are few and far in between. It was almost distracting, watching them pass by. They were kind of peppered here and there, but the farther we went, the less they showed up. There came a time where there was nothing. At this point, we've long since slowed down, and it was pitch black all around us. This area was somehow even darker than the previous locations. The only light radiated from the moon, the stars and the headlights.

I've long since given up on the steering wheel. This car may be driving itself, but who the hell is out here to drive by and notice? I had my head resting on my arms near the window. The quiet hum and the slight rumble of the engine seemed almost calming. When the building disappeared, I took to looking to the sky. I was paying much attention to it, however. There were too many stars to take in, and they were going by far too fast. I've gotten myself into many bizarre situations, but I think this one takes the cake. Apparently, I'm not in danger, but the knot in my stomach wouldn't settle. I somehow drifted off to sleep despite the feeling.


	3. Hey, You

Chapter 3:

I woke up in a cage, after the drive. I was honestly hoping this all was just a demented dream, but that notion's long since been thrown out the window. I sat up, and I looked around and saw the vertical bars in front of me. I stood up and straightened myself out a bit before taking everything in.

I certainly was somewhere new, now. Out of all the places I could've imagined in my head, I couldn't have conjured up anything like this. I approached the bars, and I realized that I could fit right through them with relative ease. Which was _almost_ stupid. The thing was I looked down and then realized I was nearly twenty feet off the ground. There was just one other cell stacked below mine. I was probably put up somewhere high for a reason.

After realizing that, I began to take in the surrounding area. It's hard to explain this. It's like something straight out of a movie, almost. It's unearthly and alien. I noticed my cell and the one below me were not the only ones. There were many many more of them. I guess this was some sort of holding area. This seemed to be some sort of platform in the very center of this room or chamber. Two catwalks stretched out across to two exits and what seemed to be a massive pit below it all. There weren't any guardrails by what I could tell from up here. That's a safety hazard if I've ever seen one.

It wasn't very well-lit. This place reminded me of the inside of an old power plant or a steam tunnel, even. It seemed so industrial. It was very foreboding; everything was cold, metal, and grey. I felt uneasy being alone here. I felt abandoned. It wasn't far from the truth, either. Whoever this bot was tossed me aside into one of these cells, and left me. It's dark, and I was left here freezing and confused. I had a sudden moment of panic and felt for my bag, praying it wasn't taken from me. I felt my fingers graze the strap and I sighed in relief. I dropped to my knees, slid it off my shoulder and began to sift through it.

Everything was still there. My sweaters, my food, all of my money. They didn't even take my gun. You'd think in a situation like this; I would've had it all taken away. I guess he didn't care. I zipped the bag up and plopped it down beside me. I wasn't entirely sure what to do. Minutes passed, and I heard heavy footsteps clanking against the metal floor. It was Green-Eyes. I had no idea that was the sound of someone coming through, at first. I recoiled back in surprise at the sight of him. He didn't notice me, but as he walked, I mustered up the courage to get his attention. He was halfway across the catwalk when I poked my head out from the bars and took a deep breath.

" _HEY!_ " I shouted as loud as I could. He stopped for a second. I could see him shift slightly, thinking about turning around, but he then kept going.

"Wait!" I then shouted again. This time he did stop and turn around. I wasn't sure why I even got his attention. It's not like I had anything to say to him. I stared and him, and he stared back. He had pure apathy in his eyes.

"What is it?" He spoke.

"Uh, I, u-uh…" I stammered for the words to say "Uh, what's going on?"

"Well, what do you think?"

"I... think I'm caged up,"

"I don't like humans loose in my ship,"

"I thought I was your assistance, not your pet, Green-Eyes,"

"Call me that again, and I'll snap your neck."

I was a little appalled by the threat. He turned back around. "Well, I don't think I caught your name."

"Well, I didn't throw it,"

 _What a smartass_. "Well, I gave you my name-"

"Don't worry about it." He interrupted. He began to walk off again.

"I wanna at least know what to call you-" I shouted. He didn't stop. Before I knew it, he disappeared into the darkness, and he was gone. That effort was completely fruitless because I still don't know what the hell is going on. I hope he doesn't count on me being up here for long. I know how to climb out. I don't think getting down from here would be too difficult of a feat.

It could be dangerous, however. I could break my legs or die, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I threw my bag back over my shoulder, and I squeezed through the bars. I didn't wanna look down too much, but I did scout out the way, a bit. I noticed that there were metal parts that bordered the cage kinda like an abstract, intricate framing of a painted piece. There were plenty of spots for my hands to grip onto.

My fingers tightly wrapped around the icy iron bars as I lowered myself carefully. My foot caught onto one the footholds of the edges and then my other foot onto another. I then slowly crouched down, lowering my foot once more and landing on another foothold, the other following along with it. Then my left hand released the bar, and I found a groove to grip.

It was rinse and repeat from there. My weariness faded and I eventually found confidence in myself. That confidence would retract very quickly whenever I'd lose my footing or nearly slip. My heart rate would shoot to the ceiling, and I'd lock up.

But after a few seconds, I'd continue. I was feeling alright, but then I thought of something. What if he came by again? What would he do? I knew right then, and there I'd have to quit dilly-dallying and I tried to pick up the pace a little if I wanted to evade him. I felt my heart rate rise, slowly. I reached the bars of the cell below me. I was half expecting there to be something down there, but as far as I could tell it was empty.

I lowered my foot, that last time expecting there to be another groove to step on, but all I felt was the slick bar slide across my foot. I had to think it through before proceeding, first. I decided I was going to lock my feet around the bar an inch the rest of the way down.

It was kinda scary having no solid grip with my feet. My boots weren't made for anything like this, and I was praying they wouldn't fail me now. I was relying mostly on arm-strength here, and I didn't have much of that.

" _Look on the bright side,"_ I thought to myself, " _at least you won't die if you fall."_ A fall from here would probably have no _serious_ repercussions. I considered jumping. But maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I managed to make it down to the bar, and I wrapped my arms and legs around it tightly. I kind of just hung there for a second.

" _Now what do I do?"_ After some time I began inching down further and further until I reached the border again. From there I took a short leap, the heels of my boots clacking slightly against the metal flooring.

I was right. The entire holding area was empty besides me. Good God, everything so much bigger now that I was on the floor. When you're up high and looking down at everything, it's not nearly as impressive, but down here I felt like an ant. It's probably not in my best interest to stay here marveling at everything. Now came the time to decide where to go. It came to me quick. _Not the way he was going_. From where I was standing, I believe he went to the left, so it's only smart to go right. I approached the catwalk with its lack of guardrails. I timidly stepped out onto it and took a quick look at the seemly bottomless pit around it. Despite the catwalk being so wide, I was still pretty apprehensive about it. The lack of guardrails was a little unsettling. But I crossed it. The tapping of my shoes against the ground echoed and dispersed quietly through the chamber.

When I reached the end, I entered a corridor. This place had that steam tunnel feel, more so than that holding area. It was warmer. Not as in temperature, but more so of lighting or what little of it was there. Like a warm light, if that makes sense. The easiest way I could describe what I was seeing was smaller bits and pieces of metal built up along the walls, ceilings, and floors. They made a directionless pattern, almost like a confused grid. There were pipes and other things along the walls as well, twisting and turning in directions. It was fun to see where they went as I walked. Everything was super-sized in comparison to me. Maybe getting away hiding through here wouldn't be a chore.

I want out of here, goddammit. So I wandered. I can't tell you much about my journey wandering off. It was mostly all the same sights, for the most part. I walked around for maybe an hour or two. There were many different passages and chambers, and I tried my best to avoid anything shady. I didn't wanna run into a room and end up coming across _someone_.

Things started to get interesting when heard a commotion from the other side of a corner. It was a multitude of things. Footsteps and strange voices. I guess Green-Eyes has friends, out here. I peered around the corner to take a look. About four bots were standing around. They seemed to be investigating. I was a little interested, and I eavesdropped for a moment.

"How will we find it?" An odd voice asked in a grainy voice.

"I don't know, but he wants it back alive," Another voice reply.

"I think we're getting close. Humans are just so tiny. Why didn't he order us to kill it?" Another voice added. My heart felt like dropping.

"No, he would not be happy about that." Another voice said.

I think I learned something from this exchange; these guys are looking for me and Green-Eyes knows I'm gone. Great. These bots may be able to pick up the necklace, so I figured it's best to be mindful of that. They seemed to be distracted by what I could tell. I turned around and picked a different direction, and the corridors just always looked the same.

There came the point where I'd feel the ground tremor. It was from their footsteps. If there were more than just those four, I could seriously be in danger of being caught. I soon came to realize there were more bots around. The rumbling became more and more abundant. Every time I'd hear something new, I'd pick up my pace. I walked to the end of a corridor and met with a four-way intersection of halls. I walked right into a squad of them, but they didn't realize I was at their feet. I quickly turned around a booked it, making a sharp turn in a different direction, this time. Every other turn was a group of the things completely oblivious to my tiny form right in front of them.

They've must have been picking up that stupid necklace. I stopped for a short second and ripped the thing off and threw it down at my feet and looked all around. I looked for some means of escape. Somewhere. Anywhere. Every so often I'd see a small opening between the walls in certain spots, and I happened to be meters away from one. It may have been my only means of evasion. I quickly slipped through the crevice like a mouse in a basement. I was met with a long tunnel to my immediate right filled with pipes and wires. It was horrifically hazy and hot, back here. The pipes occasionally spewed out scalding hot steam. I could feel the heat radiating from it even from where I was standing.

There was nowhere I was going through that. Finally, the bots began to swarm around the spot the necklace was left. There were at least ten of them. I don't think they could find it at first. I watched them search around for it on the floor for a moment. One of them managed to spot the tiny piece of jewelry, finally. One of them clinched the tiny band of metal in its fingers before lifting it up. They all began to investigate it, and they realized I took off without it.

I can't get over how strange their voices could get. They had an array of weird voice qualities and tones that I could barely make out what they said. I'm not sure if some of them were speaking any language I've ever heard. But I kept hearing a recurring word. Or name, more so. Some of them would mutter out the word "lockdown" here and there. "Contact Lockdown," or "Where is Lockdown?"

Who is this supposed to be? They eventually all dispersed and stormed off, so I had time to think, at least. My first thoughts were they were putting this whole place on lockdown. Like locking everything up and sweeping the place. But it sounds more like a person or an entity of some sort. I wanted to leave this little crevice, but I almost started feeling sort of safe, here. It's probably not a good idea to go running around, at a time like this. They're probably going to be looking much closer for me. So I hung out for awhile. I considered walking through the tunnel several times, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized could actually die. With the combination of a ton of wires and high-pressured super-hot steam, I was bound to be fried. I think dying might be something I should try to avoid.

The corridors were clear for some time. I was almost ready to take off and start wandering again, but then I began to hear a low rumble off in the distance. It wasn't footsteps or anything of the sort. It was more of a consistent hum throughout the area. I popped my head out to have a quick look around, but I saw nothing new. I was sick of standing back here. It was hot and humid, but I still don't think now's the time to take off.

The rumbling drew nearer, and I could hear it had a pattern. _Rumble-rumble, pause, rumble-rumble, pause_. Suddenly a massive red beam flashed over the wall, for a moment. I'll admit it startled me. The rumble drew nearer once more, and finally, a massive rover halted violently only meters away from my hiding spot. A long arm on its front had a rotating joint with an optic on it, by what I could tell. It turned to the wall across from me and ejected a wide, crimson laser that skimmed over that wall. It must have been taking some sort of scan. In a flash, the optic was now facing me. With a quick yelp, I swiftly jumped behind the corner.

The laser just barely missed me. It projected on the wall before fading, and the rover was once again, on its way. I think it's safe to say they're still looking for me. I was running out of options, but it's not like I had many, to begin with. What if that thing did detect me? What would it have done? I'm out of ideas, now. It wasn't safe for me to be roaming. I waited around a little more. Once again I heard footsteps coming down the hall. What was unusual is that I heard multiple, much smaller sets racing toward the larger footsteps.

I peered around the corner. Something suddenly raced by in a quick blur. Some sort of mechanical beast. Then another. I thought I was going crazy at first, but those were giant robot dogs. Now you're probably thinking "Vega, how did you come up with that?" I was thinking that, myself until I heard gritty, unearthly barking. Whoever it was coming down the hall had stopped, and the robo-dogs ceased their howling.

I heard a familiar voice speak. "You've come up with nothing, too?" It sounded like Green-Eyes. He must have been speaking to the dogs. "I can't find the human _anywhere_." He began. "They're all the same. Humans are too curious to be held down. She's no exception." He began to walk off. I watched him pass by. Once again, I scraped together some courage and poked my head out as he walked off. I was completely right, by the way. Those were robot dogs. But that's beside the point.

"Hey!" I shouted. Green-Eyes quickly whipped around dramatically. It was almost comical. "Can I ask you something?"

Before I knew it, he snatched me up in his hand in a quick motion and held me up to his face. "Let me ask _you_ something," He sneered, "What the _hell_ your problem?"

"What were you expecting?" After all, I was kidnapped.

"You don't understand. Anything here could be deadly to you,"

I didn't have a response to that. He began to carry me off.

"Why can you understand that I didn't bring you here to harm you?" He growled

"Listen," I started. "I need to ask you something." He didn't respond to me. I asked my question, anyway. "Is your name Lockdown, by any chance?" He stopped completely. He glanced at me, baffled. I guess I had my answer. He didn't say anything, he coldly and sternly looked away from me and continued walking.


	4. Empty Spaces

Chapter 4:

Green-Eyes dropped me on my ass in front of a bunch of men. This isn't going where you think it might. They were dressed in army gear with guns at their hips and clipboards in their hands. They looked down at me in complete befuddlement and then they looked back up at him.

"You can't just…" One of them began. "Bring your friends here..."

"She isn't my friend,"

"Whoever she is, she can't be here."

I'm not sure where this place was. Let me fill you in. Green-Eyes here did confirm his name was Lockdown. I didn't wanna tell him how I found out, but he assumed I heard it from his crew. He was right, sadly. I felt so bad-ass, but he stole my thunder. The story of my life, I suppose. I told him how I escaped. I climbed down, ran around for awhile and hid in a crevice for the rest of the day. He called me stupid, and also confirmed the fact that those tunnels were very dangerous. If I crawled back there, I would have most certainly died from either scorching or even being electrocuted to death by faulty wires. He called off the search, and he made me explain the whole thing to his crew. They seemed to be dumbfounded, by what I could tell.

He was impressed how I was able to evade the rovers. They had thermal radars but were most likely unable to detect me due to the tunnel's overwhelming heat being rendered undetectable and making the area practically invisible, thus cloaking my own heat. Or at least that's what he told me. I don't know much sense that's supposed to make. I was taken to another part of the ship, and he let me down, finally. I thought this was a general cockpit, but then he told me this was dropship. It's able to pop off from the main ship, and he often uses it to get places and drop off or pick up supplies and other stuff.

That brings us up to date. We arrived at some sort of air field. There were many different types of planes and jets parked along the landing strip. It was a cloudy, chilly, calm morning. The ship has a name, Lockdown told me. The Knightship. It loomed overhead. Its build is just so alien. It looked like something straight out of a movie. Its engines were calm, stabled and dark in the center, almost like black holes in the sky. It hasn't been long since I've seen the outdoors, but after all that, I really started to miss it. I enjoyed the sweet breeze as the men argued with a giant robot in the background. They bickered back and forth for some time about me being brought here. It wasn't my choice, so I chose to stay out of this.

The soldier was mostly running his mouth until Lockdown finally revealed his alibi. He drew my necklace from a container on his hip and dangled it in front of the crew.

"I brought her back here because she had the shard," He stated. He let go of it and clinked against the concrete, landing between the squad and I. "She's working for me, now." I slowly reached out to retrieve the pendant, but it was quickly snatched up by the man, who held it up and observed it.

"It's in the jewel," I pointed out. I guess even the humans knew about the shard.

"We should take it in for further analysis-" The man began, but he was cut off.

"That won't be necessary," Lockdown assured. "It's an asset to our operation."

"He's using me as bait," I chimed in.

Everyone was silent for a moment. The man spoke up, again. "So what do you want us to do?"

"If she's going to be apart of this operation, she needs to be registered,"

"You're saying we should enlist her?"

"What else would I be saying?"

What an audacious guy. The man looked down at me, still on the ground and then back up to him. "I can't tell you anything for sure, but I guess I'll speak to the Colonel, we'll see what he says." And with that, he walked off toward a cluster of buildings in the distance. The rest of the men just stood around looking at each other. That 10 minutes it took for the man to get back was awkward as all Hell. When he did come back, he gave me a weird look, probably confused to see me still on the ground. None of the others had bothered to help me up or anything.

I raised an arm up to him, and he grabbed hold of me and pulled me to my feet. "We'll take her back." He said, "She'll be back, shortly."

He swiftly turned around, avoiding eye contact with Lockdown, who didn't even have a chance to say anything. The man beckoned me to come along, and at that, the man guided me off. I glanced behind me as the rest of the men kind of dispersed, while Lockdown just stood there. I was lead into a building, and I was brought to what I assumed was a waiting room. He sat me down and finally introduced himself.

"Sgt. Gunther," He stated, reaching out for a handshake. I accepted, and he had a very firm grip, my God. He shook my arm up and down like a wet noodle.

"Nice to meet you, Sgt. Call me Vega," I replied. He let go of my hand, and I quickly retracted my arm.

"We're going to take you back into the office, soon and we're just going to ask a few questions. We've never dealt with anything like this, before,"

"Yeah, me neither,"

"Just wait here, we'll be no more than 5 minutes."

He walked inside of a room down a hallway adjacent to where I sat. And thus, I began to wait. One of my favorite things to do in a waiting room is just taking a moment to look around at things. I noticed an empty front desk by the entrance with a computer sitting on it with its monitor facing away. There's also a small vase with a red flower sticking out of it, as well. I saw a door behind the desk and a small window covered by blinds. There were only four empty seats next to me and at the very end of the row was a globe on a tall, fancy stand. The walls had lots of photo-like paintings of jets, planes, and other aircrafts. The carpets were grey and speckled with black, almost like tv static. The walls were painted a light grey with a slight hue of blue. All in all, the room's dull. Colorless.

After taking a quick scan of the room, I watched the ceiling fan for a little bit. Finally, the Sgt. came out of the office. He called my name and motioned with his hand for me to come down and enter. I did just that. I sheepishly entered the room and sat down in front of an older man behind a desk. His hair was mostly grey and white, but with bits of black here and there. This was even applicable to his beard. His dark colored eyes stared down at a stack of papers, and he didn't seem phased by my presence.

"So what's she here for, again?" He spoke in a raspy voice.

"She has the All-Spark shard, Colonel," The Sgt. replied. He then dropped my necklace down on the desk in front of the Col., "It's inside the gem."

He reached over and began to fidget with it in his fingers. "How the hell'd she get a hold of _this_?"

"It was given to me I'm not sure where it came from," I added.

"I see. And you said Lockdown brought her here?" The Col. asked.

"Yes, they're working together or something," The Sgt. said.

"I don't know if this is something we should allow, but I'm not going to be the one to tell him no." The Col. jokes.

From there, they asked me a series of questions. My full name, my age, weight, and date-of-birth. They asked if I've ever owned weapons or if I've been diagnosed with any long-term illnesses or mental health issues, as well as a bunch of other stuff I don't really remember. They also took thumbprints and took my photo. It took almost two hours to complete, and when we were finished, I was sent back into the waiting area. I was also given back my necklace. I sat there looking around, once again. The Sgt. didn't come back for almost half an hour. When he did, he handed me a small, black, leather wallet. When I opened it up, I discovered it has an ID in it. I guess I have my own badge, now. I didn't get to have a good look at it. The Sgt. then ushered me out of the door.

We took a few steps outside. We both then quickly realized Lockdown was nowhere to be found. I can't say I was too surprised. I almost want to believe he left without me. All it took was a walk around the airfield to eventually find him in his vehicle form, parked behind a shack by some jets. We approached him, and he didn't seem to even acknowledge us. "We're done, now, she's good to go." The Sgt. spoke, trying to get his attention. He scratched his head, a little perplexed at the lack of a response. "What, is he asleep-?" As soon as the Sgt. finished, at the drop of a hat, the bot quickly changed forms and stood up.

"Did you really have to take _this_ long?" He sneered. The Sgt. rolled his eyes, which visibly angered Lockdown. "Roll your eyes at me again, and cut them out of your skull."

The Sgt. seemed disturbed by this threat.

"We'll be going, now." Lockdown snatched me up in his fist, and I stared at him uncomfortably. I looked down and noticed The Sgt. looked concerned. I was then taken back to the dropship, and thus we went and flew back to the main ship.

Getting snatched up in Lockdown's fist tends to startle me, but I think I'm already getting used to it, at this point. The hatch opened up in front of him, and he stepped out from the dropship with his hand clenched around my little body. I wasn't sure what he was going to with me, now. I almost wanted to ask, but I wasn't sure if I should even bother. He didn't say a word to me; he just kept on moving. It seemed like the rooms turned cold when he'd walk through. He certainly turns the heads of the crew, as he makes his way throughout the ship.

Something about his walk makes him seem confident and bold, and all the crew members know this. By the looks of it, it seemed they fear him. The second I laid eyes on him - or I should say, he laid eyes on me, I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. He brought me to room with a large, round window. It had many small transparent screens circling the edge of it with unknown writings all over them. The window itself had a strange pattern of beams along it.

From out the window, I could see the airfield, and I realized this was probably the cockpit for the main ship. Lockdown stepped up on a platform, and I noticed a massive throne of some sort, presumably for the operator. From the beside the seat, a bit of movement caught my eye. I looked down to realize the same robot dogs from earlier were on the floor and at either side of the throne. They both had perked up at the sight of their master returning.

He took a seat and reached over the armrest. I would have thought he was reaching over to pet his dog, but I realized what he was really doing. He dragged over what looked like a giant pet cage, to me. It almost looked like the holding cells, but smaller. It was people-sized, in fact.

"I-is that another cage?!" I shouted like an idiot.

He glared at me, looking pretty annoyed. "Yes. This time, I'll be able to keep an eye on you," He removed the top and dropped me into it before replacing the top. He kicked the cage aside, knocking me over and at the same time, completely startling me. I heard a low, throaty growl. I turned around to see one of the dogs was laying on the ground with his paws out in front of him. He slowly began gnashing his teeth, before violently jumping up at me and breaking out in a barking fit and sending my cowering against a corner of the cage.

I looked up; Lockdown didn't seem phased. The dog did eventually stop, but his eyes were locked on me. With every little movement I'd make, he'd let out a short growl. I looked back up to Lockdown who was working with a screen in front of him. He seemed to be reading something by what I could tell. He would occasionally swipe his finger and scroll passed a wall of text before pausing. It was quiet for awhile. Until the growling of my stomach broke the silence. Everyone must have heard it, considering the dog tilted its head in confusion and I noticed even Lockdown was staring at me, looking somewhat baffled.

"Sorry," I said flatly. My bag was maybe a yard away from me. I looked at it and looked back to the hound. He was gaze still fixated on me. I sat up straight and slowly leaned in for it. The dog began to growl. The closer I got, the louder he'd get until I slipped my hands around the strap, he then let out a vicious howl.

 _"Stop that!"_

I jumped at the sound of an aggravated bellow. I clutched my bag to my chest and realized it was Lockdown yelling at the mutt. It certainly shut him right up. He laid back down looking like a sorry puppy dog. He still didn't break his gaze as I opened up my bag and took out some canned-potatoes and a can opener. The dog's ears perked up. He kept watching my every move. I popped open the can and dug a spoon out from my bag. As disgusting as it may sound to some, I was quite content with eating them cold right out of the can. I thought I'd try and get on good terms with the dog. I slowly approached the side of the cage, and he watched me cautiously. When I reached the side of the cage, I slipped my hand through the bars and held the can up to him.

He sniffed but didn't seem interested in what was inside. I shrugged and sat down, and began to eat. I guess he's not interested in Earth food. I find it a little bizarre a robotic creature knows what food is. Why would a robot need to eat, anyway? I noticed he never stopped staring at me. Maybe he thought I had something else for him. I offered the potatoes a few more times, but all he does is just sniff and back off. Finally, I finished eating. I noticed him sniffing, once more.

"I'm done, there's none left!" I said, standing up and holding the can out once more. Suddenly in a quick motion, the dog snatched the can right out of my hand and scarfed it down, spoon and all. I stood there frozen in awe, jaw dropped.

"He _loves_ cans," I heard Lockdown say tauntingly.

"Uh," was the only thing that came out of my mouth. I was okay with losing the can, but he had to have the spoon? Really? _I don't have many of those._

More time passed. It's getting dark, and I guess the ship isn't going anywhere. We've been hovering over the air field for quite some time. I sat leaning against the side of the cage, in a corner. The dog and I have made peace, at this point. I occasionally reached out a hand and pet the big guy's head. He didn't seem to mind at all, surprisingly. I guess that can is all he needed.

"Are we gonna go anywhere or anything?" I shouted up to Lockdown. He looked away from what his screen and down at me. "Yes, you," I assured.

He looked away back to his work. "What difference does it make to you?"

I looked away and didn't say anything. After a few seconds, I sat up. "I don't see a reason why I _have_ to be in this cage," He didn't say anything. Despite that, I continued trying to talk my way out of this.

"The dogs seem to be okay with me now, and I know not to wander off," He stopped what he was doing for a moment. Maybe it was working.

He glanced over at me. "You're trying to say you want me to let you out?"

"Yeah, I know you don't mean me any harm, and of course I won't do you any harm,"

"Makes sense to me," He looked back over to his screen and continued his work. The silence was odd.

"Will you let me out?" I asked.

"Absolutely not,"

"What?! Why?" I felt confused. Almost as about confused as a homeless man on house arrest.

"Because," he began, "I don't want you getting your scent everywhere."

"Scent?" I repeated back to him. "Robots don't smell things, do they?"

Whenever piss him off, he tends to give me this certain glare. "Yes. They do. I can't _stand_ how you humans smell. You have such an odd scent,"

I couldn't believe it. "Are you joking? Is that really all this is about?"

"Absolutely. It's almost sickening. I frequently stop at the airfield. You'll have some grazing time in between missions."

I was even more irritated than ever at this point. I'm nothing more than a pet to him, by the sound if it. I gave up, and I sat there pouting in my cage, knowing I won't be free. At least he's nice enough to let me out at the airfield. I'll be able to eat and shower and use their restrooms or whatever else, maybe. The thing is, I'll probably end up sleeping in here, which blows. I looked up at Lockdown, and at the drop of a hat at that moment, his screen suddenly went out, causing him to jump. He growled in annoyance. At the corner of my eye, I noticed the small screens circling the window began to flicker out one by one.

" _What the fuck_?" He said to himself.


	5. Keep Talking

**AN: Seem this story is doing alright, so far. I've gotten followers and favorites and many many views, so thank you very much for that!**

 **I just wanna put a heads up out for you guys. I proofread like a motherfucker. I proofread after I finish writing, and I proofread before I post. But sometimes things DO slip through the cracks. If you notice any weird word jumbles or stray words that don't belong, please let me know! Just send me a message and let me know what chapter and what paragraph the error is in and I'll fix it ASAP. I would be super duper grateful if you could do that!**

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Chapter 5:

Lockdown called up a few technicians. Two guys and girl, as far as I could tell. I sat in my cage sifting through my belongings while the four of them were standing around a computer they were disassembling. Lockdown was knelt down, pulling the thing part along with the female bot while the other two stood behind them, watching. From what I was hearing, this computer ran the screens that displayed the ship's various statuses of the engines, breakers, boilers, etc. and it completely crashed. They weren't sure why, but they were working toward a solution.

I watched them and listen to them go back and forth for awhile, but I quickly grew bored of it. I continued to poke through my things. I noticed the card holder I was given, back at the airfield. I haven't looked at it closely, yet. I popped open a button and removed the strap before opening it up and taking another look at the badge. I looked underwhelmingly normal, for lack of a better word. It was a plain white card with black and blue lettering.

It had my photo as well as my name, age, and things of the sort. As a took a quick scan of it, I noticed some text across the top of it.

"Cemetery Wind?" I read aloud. I guess that's their name of the unit, perhaps. I don't think I've ever heard of anything like this. I almost wanted to ask about it, but I looked up and took note of the fact that Lockdown was still busy with his technicians. They seemed to be getting frustrated by the looks of it. He probably wouldn't wanna talk to me, anyway.

I plucked a few rolls of yarn from my bag, and I sifted through my equipment. After picking out a hook, I took the yarn between my fingers and began to tie a slipknot. They call this type of yarn 'variegated.' It gradients off into different colors. This particular yarn was mostly pastel pinks, blues, and purples. You can do amazing stuff with certain brands such as color pooling when you use the right stitch and the right count to make patterns with the colors, but I digress. I tend to do that. I have about five sweaters, all of which I've made. But I figured ' _Why not another'?_ The cold weather was beginning to set in, so it'd do me good than anything, about now. As I began stitching, I'd glance up at the group occasionally to see what they were up to. I started listening in to what they were saying, once again.

"Dammit," I heard Lockdown hiss. "I dropped the cord." I stopped and watched as he leaned into the machine. At this angle, I could see he was trying to force his hands into a slot. But it was no good. He pulled his hand out from the crevice and groaned. He slumped over =and turned around and looked at the technicians.

"Everyone, show me your hands," I could hear the aggravation in his voice. The three bots held out their palms to the boss. He took a quick glimpse at all them before he made his decision. He grabbed the female bot by the wrist and dragged her over to the machine.

"Grab that cord and bring it back up," He instructed. She then tried to reach into the crevice, as well. For a moment she moved her hand around, and I could tell she was struggling to get a hold of it.

"I can feel it but…" She trailed off, "I can't get my fingers around it," She withdrew her hand. "I think might have something to pull it out with." She began unhooking tools from her hip and inspecting each one. The other did the same while Lockdown boredly leaned against the machine. By the looks of it, he didn't seem to have much faith in the three.

I watched his eyes shift around as he aimlessly looked around the cockpit. What I find interesting is how his eyes glow like that. I wonder how his kind uses them to see when they're lit up? He looked out the windows; he looked at the walls. Then he looked at me. I stopped what I was doing and stared back at him. There was a weird five-second stare-down between the two of us before he reached over to the platform and dragged my cage toward him. I was startled. He opened the top and snatched me up in his hand with no explanation. He brought me over to the machine and tossed me inside of it.

"Crawl in and bring that cord back up." He commanded.

In front of me, I noticed that that crevice he was trying to get into was caused by two devices next to one another. They appeared to be some sort of giant circuit boards that were partially encased. The casings next to each other are what made this slot. I got up and took a quick look down. It wasn't a long drop from there. I sat down on the edge and hopped down into the pit, my boots making a gentle " _click_ " as I hit the floor. It was cramped and dark, down here.

From what little light came from the surface, I was able to spot a long, wide cord with a strange 4-pronged plug on the end snaking out from a slot in the wall.

I lifted up the plug in my arms. "Is this it?" I shouted, looking up.

"Yes," I heard Lockdown's voice from outside of the machine. He didn't bother to look down. I guess he just assumed.

"How do I bring it back up? Should I try throwing it?"

"Go ahead,"

And with that, I raised the plug over my head and balanced my stance. After pulling back my arms for some momentum, I hurled the plug upwards toward the surface. I heard it " _clink"_ against the metal above me, but it slid right back down and landed with a loud 'thud.'

" _Well, that didn't work_."

I dragged the plug back over and tried again, but this time I threw out my shoulder when I was applying more power to it. Lucky for me, it stayed up there. One of the bots reached out and picked up the plug and pull it up. I guess I was left to my own devices to get back up there. I positioned myself near the edge and jumped up as high as I could and gripped the edge, and I felt a spike of pain through my shoulder.

Despite that, I used every bit of strength in my poor arms to lift myself. I slowly began to rise with my breathing heavy and my muscles wobbling. I got about halfway before throwing my leg over the edge and using it to pull myself the rest of the way up. I was almost reluctant at first because I'm in a skirt, but then it dawned on me that they aren't the same as people. I _doubt_ any of them would care.

I came up huffing and puffing. I looked up and ended up staring one of the technicians in the eyes. He held the plug in his hand along with another cord that I assume the plug hooks up to. He gazed at me blankly. He's probably never seen anything like me, before. I slowly rose up and dusted myself off. I silently shuffled toward the exit, careful to step over any protruding wires and parts. I climbed out, and the first thing I saw was Lockdown glaring down at me. He had his elbow propped up against the machine. He seemed to be... _apathetic._

"Hey uh," I stammered. "You're welcome."

He looked away from me and said nothing. Behind me, I heard a _'whir'_ that progressively got higher pitched before cutting off. It sounded like something booting up. I caught a glimpse of the screens flickering back on, once again. The technician backed out from the machine and took a look around at everything before turning to Lockdown.

"That should do it." The technician said. He then got up, and the other two did so as well. The female bot began frantically picking up her tools that were sprawled all over the floor. I found it kind of funny watching her scurry out of the room with the other two with all of her gadgets falling out of her arms, like that.

I was quickly and silently snatched up by Lockdown. Like I said previously, it's come to the point where it doesn't even surprise me. He stepped onto the platform and dropped me back in the cage, but this time he couldn't be _fucked_ to put the top back on. He then took a seat and pulled his screen back up and continued with his work. I decided to continue what I was doing, as well. I scooched back to my spot and picked up my work, thus far. I hadn't gotten far at all before all of that. I was actually a little thankful he left the top open, it gave me light to work under without any obstruction.

It was pretty dark outside by now, but the cockpit had lights in it. Sometimes I'd get side-tracked by looking out the window. The glimmer of the lights below us in the airfield looked just so pretty. That combined with the stars was the perfect recipe for complete and utter distraction, to me.

It was eerily silent for a while. I had a quick snack of a couple of crackers. I could tell the dog was a little disappointed I didn't have anything for him, this time. I offered a cracker to him, but once again, he only sniffed at the mere Earthling food. He didn't seem interested. When I finished eating, I resumed my work, and I sat there fumbling with my yarn for some time. There came the point where I stopped to think for a moment. In my field of vision, I noticed the cardholder. I guess I forgot to put it back in my bag when I was done with it, earlier. I reached over for it and took a look at the badge once more.

"Can I ask you something?" I said, turning to Lockdown. He didn't say anything. _What a stupid question, why do I keep doing that_? "What is 'Cemetery Wind'?" I then asked.

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and parted his lips to speak. "It's a unit created by the Earthlings after the city of Chicago was torn apart," He said.

"I think I remember that-"

"All of you seem to,"

I was getting interested, now. Perhaps I could get some answers from him. "What do you know about that day?"

" _Nothing,_ " He stated firmly. "I wasn't there."

"I see," I said quizzically. "What does this unit do?"

He stopped what he was doing and glanced down at me once more. "They didn't tell you?" I shook my head. He turned back to his screen. "We're hunting down Transformers - my race. The humans don't want them, anymore. It was only a matter of time."

I was somewhat appalled, hearing this. "You're helping them kill your own kind?"

"For a price, yes,"

"All it takes for you is money?"

He glared. "Earth currency means nothing to me," He stated coldly. "What they have here for me is _someone_ I've sought after for a very long time."

"Who's that?"

"Don't worry about it."

For a moment I watched him work on the screen. He must have resumed reading whatever it was he was looking at before the screens went out. "Don't be like that," I said flatly. He said nothing more. "Can you at least tell me about your kind-"

He slammed his fist down on the armrest. "Why can't you leave me alone?" He growled.

I was almost confused he reacted this way. I tried to reason with him. I tried explaining to many people I know were killed and jail and I wanted to know what was being kept from us for so long. It only made him angrier.

"If I'm going to be working for this cause, I don't want to be left in the dark-"

"The Autobots and Decepticons have been squabbling within the galaxy for centuries. It's been my job to fix what they've broken. There is nothing more you need to know,"

I dropped my yarn and my hook. I stood up and place my hands on my hips. "If we're going to be stuck together, you're going to have to start being nicer to me-"

"I don't have to do _anything_ for you!" He hollered. He turned to face me, and his face was twisted in anger.

"You seem to have walls around yourself, my dude," I said to him. "I just want you to let them down for a second so we can talk-"

He jumped up from his seat and tried to storm off, clearly upset with me. He must not have been watching where he was going because he then slipped off the platform and hit the floor. A loud ' _thud'_ rang out through the cockpit, and the two dogs hopped off the platform and stood over him for a moment. He groaned in pain as he rose back up to his feet.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" I shouted at him. He whipped around quickly, still looking very, _very_ pissed off.

" _Don't talk to me,_ " He growled. I turned away from me and looked out the window. Even after calling his name several times, he outright refused to speak to me again.

I wasn't entirely sure how to fix this. The best solutions are sometimes the easiest ones, so I caved in. "I'm sorry," I sighed.

He turned around and glared. "You're right. You're about the _goddamn sorriest_ creature I have ever met," He sneered.

I won't lie, that was pretty mean. But I didn't let it get to me. He came back to sit down, and he pulled up his screen. Nothing more was said, for a while. I continued to crochet. My pace was steady, I maneuvered my hands in a pattern, catching the yarn with my hook and pulling it through the hoops. I felt bad about pissing him off like that. At least now I know he has boundaries I shouldn't be crossing.

I shouldn't be _crossing_ this guy in general, I've realized. If I were anybody else at all, I probably wouldn't have lived long enough to see this point, even. I was thrown almost off guard when I suddenly heard my name uttered in the silence.

"Vega,"

I looked up.

"Do not tell the humans I lost my temper with you."

I wanted to expect an apology, but yet I knew not to. I didn't expect anything at all really, yet I was still disappointed. A part of me wants to tell the Sgt. as soon as we were back at the airfield. But another part of me has vowed that _I ain't no snitch_. So I agreed to keep my mouth shut.

"I won't," I assured. "I didn't mean to upset you."

He tends to not reply to me.

"Even after all this - The Autobots and all, a lot of people don't want to believe that the universe is more than just Earth," He turned and looked down at me. I glanced back down into my lap and continued to stitch.

"You're right," He stopped what he was doing and scratched his chin. "Every race I've ever worked with can't wrap their heads around it. They don't like to hear what I have to say,"

"Even when I was little kid - well, before this all happened, I always figured we weren't alone. Everyone would just scoff in my face when I tried to express that," I sighed. "I never would have imagined it would have ended up like this, though."

"They're not much better than humanity."

"The Transformers?"

"They're parasitic, showing up uninvited to these worlds and bringing their conflict everywhere they go,"

I think I was beginning to understand him a little bit. "What makes them fight like this?"

"It's beyond me. They make about is much sense as bickering children. They've been thrown off more worlds that I care to mention. But believe me," I saw a flicker of determination in his eyes, "Karma has caught up with them, and it's come to collect its debt."

"I see."

I remember hearing all the good things about the Autobots and only bad things about the Decepticons when I was young. But it all started to make sense to me, now. The Decepticons were responsible for all the battles. The Decepticons were responsible for all of the destruction, too. But the Autobots _did_ have a hand in it. Maybe the world's outrage was justified, in the end. I still don't feel very good about how their kind has been slaughtered, however. It still almost seemed wrong to me to just waste them all and leave them to die.

"I always heard the Autobots did want to protect us, but…" I said, my voice trailing off.

"Anywhere they go, the Decepticons follow," Lockdown stated. "Their idea of 'protecting' you humans is joining these scraps and furthering the destruction of your world. They don't care about you. They only wanted your conformity so you'd help fight their battles."

"I did not know this,"

"The humans didn't know what they were signing up for. They had _no_ idea."

He was right. I think humanity bit off a little more than they could chew by letting them all stay here. Hospitality is apart of human nature, but maybe there should be a point where we draw the line, here. They might as well just invited the Decepticons to stay, as well. Their efforts to get rid of them were always piss-poor. There would be sightings and killings, but the only thing they'd ever do is just shoo them away - if they chose to do anything at all. For years people were very angry about it, and their lack of effort had lead to this. I guess I learned quite a bit thanks to Lockdown. He and I seem to think alike, in a way.

I think soon he and I will be on good terms.


	6. A Great Day For Freedom

**AN: Thanks for bearing with me, so far. Chapter updates from then on will be twice a week just whenever I feel like it. I hope you enjoy this new chapter and have a beautiful day!**

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Chapter 6:

Sleeping on the bottom of a metal cage wasn't as bad as I anticipated. The only downside was that I woke up with a sore neck and it was freezing cold. I sat up and shivered slightly and took a glimpse through the cockpit window. I rubbed my eyes, and my blurry vision began to focus and become clear. I could see the day was breaking and the sun was beginning to rise. It couldn't have hardly been even _seven_ in the morning, yet.

"You're finally awake," I heard Lockdown grumble.

"Sorry," I groaned groggily.

"I didn't ask for an apology."

I didn't bother to rebuttal. _It's too early for that shit._ I stood up and stretched out and took a quick scan around the cockpit. At one point during the night, he must have turned off the lights because the only thing that lit the room was the dim morning sun. It looked pretty in here, in an almost abstract way. The view from up here was glorious. There wasn't much around the airfield to note except for fields of grass and buildings and some trees far off in the distance. Seeing the sun rising over the horizon was gorgeous nonetheless, however.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" I looked up and asked.

"We're heading back to the airfield,"

"Ah,"

"Did you meet the Colonel?"

I tilted my head back and thought for a moment. _Did_ I meet the Colonel? I met quite a few people down there. I know I met the Sgt. but I don't know if I remember a Colonel. "Uh," I sputtered out.

"He has grey hair and a beard," Lockdown informed, "He's also missing an eye."

"Oh!" I exclaimed. He was the man in the office, that's right! "I remember him now. I did meet him, but I don't remember him missing an eye…"

"He is, in fact, missing an eye, the left one is fake. It's made of glass,"

I didn't even notice that. I don't think I even looked at him long enough to tell. How do you tell someone's eye isn't real, anyway? Lockdown filled me in a bit about the Col.; he's the man we'll be taking orders from. I can tell Lockdown doesn't appreciate being told what to do. His motives are still a little unclear to me, but after last night I know better than to ask. After our banter, he plucked me up out of my cage and left the cockpit with me. He brought me back to the dropship. The trips from here and back are never really interesting. They're spent mostly in silence, other than me asking a stupid question or two or talking to myself or whatever else.

The guys at the airfield were way nicer than I expected. They fed me and even let me have the shower room to myself. I finished up my hair, gathered my belongings and exited the shower room. When I stepped out, a man stumbled up to me in an almost comical way. He had a few boxes in his arms that he was having trouble keeping a hold of.

"Are you Vega" He sputtered out

"That's me,"

"Sgt. Gunther wants to talk to you. He's always on the move, walk around until you find him."

The man trotted off in a hurry with his boxes. _What a weirdo._ Couldn't say I was surprised, I had a feeling I would end up having to run into the Sgt. I got a little excited at being given an opportunity to walk around the airfield like this. It was so interesting to see all these different aircrafts. Jets, planes, anything you could think of, all lined up by the landing strip as far as the eye could see. I kicked at the dust and rocks beneath my feet as I walked. I love being up at daybreak when it's still a little dark outside. The morning air was chilly and refreshing. All kinds of different shacks and buildings lining the walkways. Ahead of me was a great big building with a dome-like roof. I've seen these before; it must have been an aircraft hangar.

I was stopped in my tracks by a familiar man briskly walking towards me. I heard the Sgt. call my name before picking up his pace and running toward me.

"Good to see you survived the night with him," He said almost joking tone. I noticed he was holding a small white cardboard box under his arm and a coffee cup in his hand. He had a cigarette hanging out of the corner his mouth. The smell of the smoke and ash was bitter and sickening.

"Morning, Sgt.," I said. "And yeah, he's quite something." I almost wanted to tell him about the cage predicament, but a part of me knew Lockdown would be pissed. It's best to just hold my tongue for awhile, I suppose.

The Sgt. then pulled up and handed me the small box. "These are for you,"

"What is it?" I turned the box to all sides, looking for a label.

"What are you doing? They're rations, it says it on the top,"

I flipped the box again, and if _I'll be damned_ , there it was. It said it right there. "Oh,"

"Anyway," The Sgt. sighed.

"Do you know anything about him?" I asked before he could say a word. "Lockdown, I mean," I noticed the smoke began to sting my eyes and nostrils.

"No, not at all," He scratched his head. He took the cigarette from his mouth and flicked off the ashes. I could see it in his hazel eyes that he was beginning to ponder. "He isn't easy to work with, never seems to admit when he needs our help."

"I don't think he likes humans much,"

"Ya' _think_?" He said sarcastically. "He's this way if we try to help him even - he had one of his optics blown out this one time and-"

"Optics? What are his optics?"

The Sgt. narrowed his eyes and gave me a funny look. It was at that moment I realized I probably said something stupid. "Their right there on the front of his face, it's his eyes,"

"So that's…" I'm not sure what I was trying to say here, "That's what they call them?"

The Sgt. was silent for a moment. "You're already quite a piece of work, Vega," He placed the cigarette back on his lips.

I uttered out a few broken words to try and protest before sighing and giving up. "I know…" I said in defeat. _I can at least admire how straightforward he is._

"If you're still around, the Col. has a mission for the both of you. You won't have to do it until way later. Don't worry about it just yet,"

"So you're just giving me a heads-up?"

The Sgt. nodded. "Do you know where he is?"

"Lockdown?"

"Yeah, him,"

"He dropped me off somewhere," I said trailing off. I'm not too good with directions. I turned around and pointed in a general direction. "Somewhere over there I think."

He beckoned me to follow him. "The airfield isn't _that_ big, we'll find him in no time," He said with a sigh. He seemed pretty tired, but despite that, he walked a pretty fast pace. I almost had to run to keep up with him at certain points. There did come the point where I did finally keep a steady pace with the guy.

 _'God, I'm gonna work my lungs half to death if I'm not careful,'_ I thought to myself. Running with asthma isn't fun.

Suddenly, something hit me. Something so stupid hurts. I began to ponder the phrase I just used. And without thinking, I uttered out the words " _What happens if you work yourself half to death twice?"_ By the time I realized I had said that out loud, it was too late.

I glanced over the Sgt. had this _look_ on his face. "What?"

I looked away. "Did I say that out-loud?" I chuckled awkwardly. I am such a failure. I mean, I do have a point, though. What _if_ you work yourself half to death twice? I guess you've worked yourself completely to death at that point.

The Sgt. said nothing more. He shook his head, and we pressed on.

We found Lockdown surrounded by a few men. By where we were standing I could tell they were having a bit of a quarrel over something. He was sitting down with his foot propped up on a tank. I could hear them talking to him, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. He seemed to be ignoring them and paying attention to what looked like a tablet he was holding in front of his face.

The Sgt. sighed in frustration and muttered something under his breath before running over to the squad. I followed along. Lockdown caught sight of the man and quickly removed his leg from off the roof of the tank and shifted his position uncomfortably as he eyed the man.

"Are you using our equipment as footrests again?!" All the men turned to look at the Sgt. as he shouted at the bot.

"And if I was," Lockdown began, "What were you gonna do?"

"I was gonna tell you to knock it off-!"

"Well, what if I don't want to stop, then what will you do about it?" it seemed he was almost taunting the Sgt. who was quickly becoming pissed off.

While these two were at it, I opened up my rations kit and started sorting through it. I found a few bottles of water, some dried meats, and fruits, some freeze-dried meals, a couple of cans of sardines and even a few packets of candy. I also found some cans of beans, but I'm not fucking around with those. I'd much rather cut my toes off with a rusty blade than put beans in my mouth under any circumstance.

I opened up one of the bags of dried fruit to snack on in the meantime. I grabbed a handful and placed a few in my mouth. _Wow, these are pretty damn good._ I tuned back into the fight ready to break out between Lockdown and Sgt. Gunther. I was almost hoping they'd throw hands or something. It wouldn't be a fair fight now, would it?

"Lockdown, this our equipment, you wouldn't see us coming up to your ship and putting our feet on your stuff-"

"I wouldn't let you on my ship, to begin with-"

"Well yeah, that goes without saying-"

"If something _'Goes without saying'_ why do people say it anyway?" I interjected.

"Vega, go be a nuisance somewhere else!" The Sgt. snapped at me. As he did this, I saw Lockdown get up and transform and silently drive off into the distance. He turned around and caught a glimpse of him making his escape, and he put his head in his hands.

"This shit," The Sgt. grumbled, " _Every goddamn day._ "

Everyone was silent for a moment. I guess these two don't like to get along.

I broke the silence with a stupid pondering thought. "So, why aren't blueberries _blue_?" I said, holding up a blueberry I plucked from my bag of fruit. The Sgt. looked at me and shook his head before storming off angrily. He wasn't amused by how little I could care during this dispute. It seemed petty. It's not my job to defend either side. I'm on my own side. My own stance. And that stance is pondering _why blueberries aren't fucking blue._ Not even the juice the make is blue.

For a while, I made small-talk with these men. They seemed alright. I offered my cans of beans to them and they were quickly snatched up. I hate beans. I hate beans so much. I don't know how these guys can remotely enjoy them. Raw pasta is more enjoyable than any kind of bean. If beans were the last food source in this entire world, you can stick a knife in me. You could throw me in a lake and watch me drown, for all I care. I don't wanna be in a world where there's nothing but beans to eat. Beans are like raw tomatoes, an atrocity among mankind. An evil this world does not need. _Who the fuck invented beans?_ Whoever thought farming beans was a good idea some few thousand years ago should have been stoned to death.

Well anyway, the Sgt. came back around. This time holding a small cactus in a flowerpot. He roughly shoved the plant in my direction. "This is for you," He said in a gruff voice. "You have to carry this around the airfield at all times."

I looked at him with visible confusion written across my face. I slowly wrapped my hands around the base of the planter. "What's this for?"

"It's to replace the oxygen you waste when you say something stupid." The Sgt. walked away without another word. The guys were losing their minds laughing. _Well played, Sgt., well played._ These guys seemed to think I was quite something. The things that come out of my mouth throw people off guard. They find it funny some tiny, innocent-looking girl spews some insane things, sometimes. It doesn't help how monotone my voice gets sometimes. Maybe that just adds on.

They all eventually dispersed when they realized they had stuff to do. So there I was, left alone in an airfield with nothing to do. So I sat down, pulled out some yarn and crocheted for awhile. I wasn't at it for too long, I eventually stopped and held up my work so far. Then it hit me; _this is going to be one tacky sweater._ Why does anyone buy variegated yarn? Does it ever look good on anything? Why did I do this?

I sighed. I began to wonder what Lockdown's up to so I packed my stuff up, picked up my cactus and took yet another walk around the airfield. Before I'd look around for him, I wanted to peek inside the aircraft hangar. _Maybe something super secret and cool is hidden in there that they've been building..._ or maybe it's where they store the aircrafts they're not using. When I approached that general area, I noticed Lockdown was hanging out over there. I guess that saved me the trouble of more walking.

He was in his vehicle form. I ran up to him, feeling almost happy to see him. "Howdy!" I shouted. He quickly transitioned into his robot form. He looked down at me and then to the plant I was holding.

"What do you have in your hands?" He asked.

"It's a cactus," I said in an upbeat tone.

"Why do you have a cactus?"

"Sgt. Gunther told me I say stupid things, so I have to carry it around the airfield to restore the oxygen I waste,"

"Sounds rational to me."

I snickered.

He crossed his arms. "I wanted to thank you for distracting Gunther, back there. I guess you're not entirely worthless,"

"Anytime," I snickered again. "I hadn't intended on it, but I'm glad to help."

Just then I heard the sound of footsteps coming up from behind us. I turned around to see a few men approaching the two of us. The man walking in front was dressed in a green military uniform. His face was familiar. His hair was grey with a few strands of black. His eyes were dark-colored - or should I say his one eye. He had an eye-patch over his left eye, this time. It was the Colonel, I believe. I also spotted the Sgt. among the group, as well.

"So I heard you two have been pissing off the Sgt. all morning." The Col. said, looking at the two of us. Lockdown didn't say anything. I just laughed nervously.

"I had nothing to do with this," I said.

"Yeah, we don't like each other-" The Sgt. admitted

"No," Lockdown interrupted. "The thing is _you_ don't like _me_. I don't give a _fuck_ about you."

"Listen-!" The Sgt. snapped cruelly as he stepped forward and assumed an aggressive stance. Lockdown's expression turned cold as he did the same in response.

The Col. threw his hand out in between the two as a signal break it up. They both backed down. "As I'm sure the Sgt. told you, we have work for you, today. We've been getting on and off reports from the Evergreen Park area,"

"I did hear," Lockdown replied, now seeming much calmer. I had no idea what the two were talking about. I do know where Evergreen Park is, however. It's a camping area and a tourist attraction. I remember camping out back there was I was a little kid. A great big river splits the park down the middle and I remember getting our inner tubes and riding down the river every time we went there. What a great time.

"We finally have concrete evidence that there's Cybertronian activity in that area. There have been a few actual sightings recently and by the descriptions, we were getting, we think we may know who we're dealing with."

I listened intently as he spoke. I looked up at Lockdown who didn't even notice my glance. His gaze was fixated on the man.

"This bot is the most elusive of all of them. His name is Dino, but he's earned the nickname Mirage-"

"Dino?" I asked sounding a little puzzled. What an oddly human-sounding name.

"Yes. He's so Italian it hurts," The Col. said. "We had him held here, one time. It was for an interrogation long before we were instructed to kill his kind on site. Unless we're instructed otherwise, of course. But he escaped. He's a very quick mover and he has a cloaking ability. I believe we got our sighting records from... campers?"

He turned around to the men behind him, holding clipboards and tablets. They nodded their heads and assured him.

"Yeah, campers were spotting him, but only late at night,"

"How late would you say?" I asked.

He scratched his beard for a moment, then turned back around to the other men. They flipped through their clipboards. Their answers varied and they read through the various reports. He turned back around to look at us, somehow making sense of the chaos. "Around eleven at night. Close to midnight is what we're dealing with." He answered.

"What do you expect us to do until then?" Lockdown asked. The Col. scratched his beard again and looked around.

"Don't worry about it, we'll be fine," I said to him. Lockdown glared at me. I stared back at him blankly and he looked away.


	7. Echoes

Chapter 7:

We spent the day doing almost nothing productive, for the most part. I spent the rest of the day sitting by the aircraft hangar and taking it easy. Lockdown did the same. He stood over me, leaning against the building with his arms crossed. I spent a lot of time working on my sweater. I occasionally glanced up to notice him just taking in the sights. The glow from his eyes - or optics I should say, was mostly drowned out by the light of day.

I became very focused on my work. My concentration was suddenly broken by a question.

"I've been meaning to ask," Lockdown began, "What is this you keep doing?"

I looked up at him and sat up straight. "Oh uh," I stuttered. I was almost caught off-guard by him speaking to me of his own volition. I held up my work. "This?" He nodded. "It's called 'crocheting.' It's something I learned to do when I was very young." I said with a nervous chuckle. He didn't say anything. He only stared back at me. I picked my hook back up and awkwardly resumed my work, feeling almost uncomfortable under his gaze.

As I continued, I took a quick glimpse up. I noticed he was watching me, now. "I'm just working on a garment is all,"

"I almost admire your ambition. Humans expire quickly," He looked away, "So I advise you create as much as you can before you drop dead."

I've always thought that myself. I've dedicated most of my life to creating all kinds of pieces of work before I had to skip town. Even now as a wander, I still love to make things. It's probably apparent that I tend to go into my own little world sometimes, especially while I'm working. I didn't notice the Sgt. had come back around until Lockdown pointed it out.

"Look who's come crawling back," He taunted. I looked up, and the Sgt. was already looking annoyed.

"If you two hate one another so much, why do you keep coming around each other?" I asked.

"He's the one who came here-" Lockdown tried to start,

"You don't understand, Vega," The Sgt. interrupted, "I was assigned to be his partner…"

"And I picked this girl over you, she's done more for me than you have and it's only been a few days. I think you should take that as a sign,"

Christ, these two are beginning to sound like a dysfunctional married couple.

"Anyway," The Sgt. sighed, "I had something to tell you both-"

"But you forgot? I can see it in your face."

And with that statement, the two immediately went off on each other. I tried to talk them down. My initial approach was to try and tell the two to knock it off, but that doesn't seem to be working. My next strategy is to play as the counselor.

I got both of their attention and somehow managed to get them to shut up. "Can I ask you both why you can't stand one another? What happened to you two?" At the drop of a hat, they both began to yap at me. I held out my arms and silenced them. "One at a time!"

Lockdown was quick to be the first to explain. "He expects me to heed every beck and call of this crew of _gifted toddlers_ he runs. Like some sort of pet-!" He exclaimed.

"You're working for _us_ -!" The Sgt. shouted.

"I'm not doing this for you!"

The tension was getting very high. So high you could cut it with a knife. "Well if you're supposed to be taking orders from these guys, what's the problem?" I interjected.

"They expect me to wait around for an 'okay' to do anything and everything. I am _not_ one of you," Lockdown spat.

"You're special, huh?" The Sgt. snapped.

Lockdown glared down at the man. Exactly like how he glares at me, sometimes. "You think I see any of you as an equal?" He growled. "One day, humanity will have to realize the universe isn't going to bend to the will of this pathetic little rock you call home." With that, he began to walk away.

"We're not done here!" The Sgt. shouted, trying to rebuttal.

"Yes," He replied, not even bothering to look back. "We are."

The Sgt. stormed off in another direction. He seemed _furious_. Lockdown eventually came back, but he wasn't the one I needed to apologize to. He certainly has issues, but I'm not gonna be the one to tell him that, _I value my life_.

Night eventually fell. I finished making my sweater, which I was excited to try on. It was about to time to leave and start our very mission together. We had to find the Col. first, but before that, I wanted to change and swap out my current sweater for the one I just finished. Lockdown seemed annoyed when I excused myself for this reason, but ultimately, he didn't seem to _give a fuck_.

I ran off and found the restroom and changed in there. I stepped into a stall and locked the door. I slide my bag off my shoulder and whipped off my top and replaced it with the pastel-colored sweater. It was soft and felt pretty warm. Warmer than the red one I had on just a moment ago. I stepped out of the bathroom stall and took a look at myself in the mirror. Tacky. Just like I imagined. It's not like I care, though. It was complete, and I felt cool wearing something I made with my own two hands.

I walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind me. The airfield was cloaked in darkness, mostly. There was a faint glow from the buildings and the lights along the airstrip. It had such a calm and relaxing feel to it. The night air was frigid, and it was a cloudless night. Thanks to the city being not too far from here, there weren't many stars visible.

After a short walk, I met up with Lockdown, again. He looked down at me and tilted his head in seeming almost confused.

I stood up straight and held my arms up. "Do you like it?" I asked him with a glint of hope in my eyes.

A look of disgust crossed his face. "That looks terrible," He scoffed coldly. My joyful expression dropped. "We don't have time to waste, Vega."

"I admire your honesty, at least…" I mumbled.

"You're welcome,"

The Col. finally showed up. "Vega!" He shouted, getting my attention. I looked up and watched as this sixty-year-old man was _sprinting_ toward us. When he stopped, he pointed at me, standing there with a dramatic stance. "That's a nice sweater!"

"You really think so?" I cooed timidly.

"Don't patronize her," Lockdown growled.

I don't think Col. was in the mood for any of his antics, tonight. He didn't have a response to that; he only shook his head. Maybe the Sgt. spilled the beans and told him all about their dispute, this morning. The Col. gave us one last quick rundown of the mission and sent us both on our way. Lockdown seemed relieved to be getting the fuck out of there. I think the conflict earlier with the Sgt. had him a little on edge. He seemed a little meaner than usual, tonight. One thing I notice is that he and I don't talk much during any kind of travel. I was surprised to find out that we were taking the dropship to the campgrounds.

We left the ship in a nearby field that was about a five-minute walk from where the main entrance to the park was. It was cold, dark and silent. Believe it or not, the campgrounds were still populated this time of year. While it's nowhere near as busy as it is in the summer, there'd be the occasional few campers hanging out, and I have no idea what Lockdown's plan for running into any of them would be. I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with any people, tonight.

We reached a long, straight road. Woodlands encompassed it. The trees stretched far and disappeared into the darkness with the road in between. The two of us stopped and stood there. The wind blew by, and I faintly heard a ghastly rustling of the branches and the few leftover dying leaves, clinging desperately to their branches by their sickly stems. I clutched my bag to my chest, feeling uneasy. I looked up at Lockdown, who looked ahead fearlessly.

"We'll take the road from here," He said. Without another word, he transformed into his vehicle form. That astounds me every time he does it. I assumed this meant " _get in"_ so I did just that. He was a little nicer this time; he didn't immediately floor it the second I took a seat. It seemed his motives were to keep quiet and be slow. Probably to look out for our target. Like the Col. said, this one seemed to be elusive, as he put it. I can't quite remember what exactly this one could do. This one has that cloaking ability is what he said, I think.

After entering the park, I was flung out of the vehicle and into the grass. Why does he do this to me? I scurried back up to my feet and brushed the dirt off, trying to pretend like nothing happened. I caught him mid-transformation, and when he completed, he stood up and looked around. In his glowing optics, I could see a sense of caution.

"Vega," He spoke in a low voice. "Head that way. Toward the trees." He motioned to the area behind me. I glanced behind me and peered to the dirt path that disappeared into the darkness. I looked back at him, feeling uneasy. I bet he could sense my fear and he didn't seem too amused. "I'll be following close behind."

"Ah." I turned around and sheepishly stepped passed the trees and into the woodlands. I couldn't see much, and I don't think I have any kind of light sources with me. All I could see were the faint shapes of the tree trunks. I began to feel my way around, and my hands slid against the rough bark of a tree beside me. I bumbled around the woods going in a straight path for a while, reaching out for trees to help guide my way.

I know Lockdown told me he was going to be following me... but he's been so quiet. I didn't hear a single footstep or even the slightest rustle coming from the brush. I'm beginning to think he tricked me into going alone. I found myself occasionally tripping on a root or a rock. I'd double over and almost fall. My eyes did begin to adjust over time, and I was eventually able to spot any uneven ground and obstacles. I began to trip less and less after some time.

" _Vega,"_

A faint voice whispered in the darkness. It was coming from behind me.

"Huh?" I uttered quietly. "Lockdown?"

There was silence. I suddenly felt a chill of a harsh wind blow by quickly.

" _Vega,"_ I heard the voice once again, but this time coming from in front of me.

I could have sworn it was him. It sounded just like him, but something didn't seem to be right. He sounded…different. Maybe he was injured or in trouble? But how did he get in front of me?

" _Vega,"_

The voice stayed in the same place, this time. I leaned in and squinted my eyes. I couldn't spot anything. Surely his glowing optics would've been a giveaway, but he _does_ have a visor that can end up mostly hiding it, however. Thing is he didn't have it on, earlier. I wasn't sure what to think.

" _Come to me, Vega."_

I tilted my head in slight bafflement. "How did you get ahead of me?" I called out in the darkness.

 _No reply._

I walked ahead a few steps. I stopped for a moment, feeling a bit apprehensive but I pressed forward. I stopped in front of a massive tree. From what I could tell, this area was a bit of a clearing. Its roots must have stretched out so far that trees couldn't grow directly around it. I'd say there was a 10-yard circumference of just grass and rocks around this tree.

I opened my mouth to call out for him again, but before I could, in a quick blur I was knocked back and on the forest floor. When I was able to make sense of the situation, I tried to get back on my feet, but I noticed there was a weight on my chest. I looked all around me, but I saw nothing that could have been causing this. I instantly began to panic.

Suddenly, something began to shift in front of me before my eyes. I almost thought I was about to pass out, and that was the darkness closing in on my vision, but I realized it wasn't even that. I thought I was just seeing things, at first. Quickly enough, I noticed two glowing sapphire optics closing in on me. This may be Dino, the bot we're hunting for. By the looks of it, he must be an Autobot, judging by the color of his optics.

I glanced down and noticed there was a blade pressed against my neck. My arms quickly shot up, and I tried to push it away, but it was futile, he only pushed back. Before I knew it the slim, crimson-colored bot began snapping at me. He wasn't looking for the shard, like I would have expected.

"Traitorous human, working with that brute!" The bot growled at me. The Col. was right. He is very, _very_ Italian, which is odd; he's not even human. "The blood of my comrades is on your hands!"

"W-what?" I stuttered. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't think I know?"

I didn't say anything.

"I saw you with that savage, Lockdown. Do you know what he's done to us?"

I understood, now. He must have been hiding nearby when we entered and heard my name and used that to lure me by _imitating_ Lockdown's voice. The Col. did say he was able to escape the airfield, awhile back. He must be good at getting creative. I parted my lips to speak, but nothing could come out. Too many thoughts were racing through my head.

"Traitors like you should be _burning in hell_."

"Traitor?"

Just then, I heard a loud ' _rumble'_ only mere yards away from me. At first, I didn't think he noticed, but suddenly the bot lifted his head and moved back slightly. He must have heard it, too. Suddenly, in a swift motion, I was struck in the face faster than I could process and I let out a loud yelp. I felt the weight lifted off of my chest and sat up and clutched my cheek, in pain. He was gone. I removed my hand, and I noticed there was blood _everywhere_. He must have sliced me.

"Do you really think you could evade me _that_ easily?"

I could tell this definitely was Lockdown. It had to be him this time, but I almost second-guessed myself for a moment. I watched him step out in front of me, then he unhooked a blade of some sort from his hip and hurled it at an unknown object. He must have hit it right on target because the weapon froze mid-air, it appeared. The bot appeared again; he must have cloaked himself to try and escape. That's how he was able to seemingly 'disappear' after cutting my face.

He must have known Lockdown was coming. He must have been trying to slit my throat and kill me as revenge before escaping. If he hadn't shifted when he looked up, I just might have been killed. This cut may sting like a _bitch_ , but I at least I lived. I figured Lockdown and the Autobots would've had bad blood, but I didn't think any of them would resort to harming a human of all things, like that.

I didn't keep up on the fight happening in front of me during that train of thought. By the looks of it, this bot moved far too fast to be shot. I did catch occasional glimpses of the two resorting to a blade fight. When I snapped back to reality, I watched Lockdown knock Dino down, and he hit the forest floor with a deafening 'thud.' He quickly jumped back to his feet and distance himself far away from Lockdown.

In a sudden bright red flash, Dino dashed forward in a blur with two afterimages splitting off to the left and right. He rushed forward and in a quick motion and Lockdown sliced the bot right through the center. His back was facing me, but I could tell by his stance alone that he was confident that this was the end. But it was far from that. I noticed the bot become almost transparent for a moment. It phased straight through him and then dispersed into thin air. This one was...a _mirage_...

That means the real Dino escaped. One of those afterimages from moments ago was not an afterimage. He could have only gone left or right. My jaw dropped. My eyes darted up to Lockdown, who turned around and looked at me with eyes wide. Without a word, he ran off into the darkness to chase the bot. I must have sat there for 2 hours waiting for him. I was almost losing hope, but he eventually came back for me. By the looks of it, he came up with nothing. The trip back to the dropship was silent. Hell, the trip back to the _knightship_ was silent, even. Believe me when I say Lockdown has a _serious_ case of 'resting bitch face,' but even passed that I could see a deep sense of defeat and disappointment in his face. I didn't feel confident enough to ask how it went until we were back on the ship and in the cockpit.

When we entered the cockpit, the dogs jumped down from the platform and ran up to greet him with their metal tails swishing about. They seemed very happy to see their master. He took a second to pat them both on the head before stepping up onto the platform. The dogs followed along and took their usual spots by the throne. He sat down, and he dropped me onto his armrest. I was pleasantly surprised to find he didn't throw me back into the cage. I then watched as he pulled up his screen and began tapping away at it.

"The Col. is _not_ going to be happy," He muttered.

"What happened back there?" I finally got the courage to ask.

"He vanished. No trace of him. I'm starting to think he completely fled the area," He clenched his fist and slammed it down thankfully on the armrest I wasn't sitting on. "I will find him, though."

"What do we do now?"

"We wait until he shows up again," He glanced up at me. "I see he cut your face."

"The bleeding finally stopped not long ago-"

"You know he was trying to slit your throat and get away when he saw me, right?"

"I did realize that..."

It was quiet for a minute or so until I decided to break the ice, again. "Hey uh," I just can't stop thinking about it, "Are we on... good terms? Allies almost?"

"Vega, like all humans, you are an insect," He stated calmly. That didn't make me feel very good. "But you are the most tolerable I've met, by far. I'm willing to let you believe that if it keeps you here." He turned and glared at me. "Do _not_ tell Gunther I told you that."

"You have my word."

Never in my life - not in a thousand years would I have ever grown up and imagined my life would have come to a point where I'd be abducted and then making friends with a giant space robot and keeping it a secret from his _'jealous'_ partner. _Good lord._

"Where are you from?" Lockdown asked, catching me off guard. "Do you know anything about this area?"

"I grew up around here. I've camped at Evergreen before, in fact,"

"I see,"

"I used to live in the town nearby," I began to reminiscent. "But I couldn't stay there any longer."

"Why's that?"

I took a deep breath in "I grew up around a lot of opinionated people, and they just so happened to side with the Autobots-"

"They were killed, weren't they?"

I felt a lump form in my throat. "Yes," I choked out. I pulled my necklace up and fidgeted with the gemstone. "I met a girl who was involved with them. She told me to take care of her necklace before she gave herself up."

"I've noticed humans seem to have this persecution complex. They use this as a way to determine who and who isn't deserving of being snuffed out. They'll realize their faults one day. But that's their problem, not mine,"

"One day in the future…" I muttered under my breath.

"That's what you all say. You all seem to be obsessed with this concept of the future. You won't live long enough to see it. None of you will. None of you are willing to change _anything._ "

He's right. In a way, I could agree. We spin ourselves in circles chasing the future with a promise it'll be brighter and better, but does anything _really_ change?

"Throughout history in some way or another, it's the same story over and over again," My voice was shaky. "The names and faces change, but that's about it. History is on repeat."

"Just about every species of alien life I've come across has been just like this. You aren't any different. No matter where I go, it's all the same."

We have a weird connection, I've come to realize. It's something I don't want with anyone else. If I had this conversation with any other human being, it wouldn't be the same. He's completely extraterrestrial, he's seen just about everything, by the sounds of it. He's met with many forms of life in space. I guess I was right about just about all of it. When I was young, I was a natural-born astronomer. Hell, I'm named after a _star_ , for God's sake. All my life I've wondered and been ridiculed for asking the question ' _Is there life on other worlds? Is it any different from our own?'_


	8. The Post-War Dream

**AN: Merry (late) Christmas! I wanted to post this chapter like 2 days ago but the servers haven't been working right. Sorry for the delay. Prepare for a super long chapter my friends.**

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Chapter 8:

Lockdown sent a transmission to the airfield and alerted the Col. that the target evaded. He didn't seem too pleased with us. I was honestly shocked the old man was still up that late. I must have fallen asleep at one point during the night, funny thing is I don't seem to remember when. When I woke up, I was almost a little surprised to find I was still on the arm rest. It was broad daylight, if I had to guess it was maybe _nine-in-the-morning_. I sat up and stretched a bit and peeked over the armrest. The dog stood up when it noticed me and his tail began wagging a bit.

"Hey there, pup." I greeted. The dog barked in response as the pace of his tail picked up. I looked up at Lockdown who seemed to be _asleep_ by the looks of it. I didn't think his kind could 'sleep' or anything. The dog barked again without my prompting and Lockdown immediately sprang to life. His body violently twitched and his optics shot open in sudden astonishment. I let out a short laugh and he glared at me, he then swiftly looked away without a word and pulled up his screen.

I stood up and stretched a little more. "So what are we doing today?"

"We have to go back to the airfield," He sounded aggravated, probably on account of the fact he has woken up so abruptly. "We're late."

We left the ship quickly. I wanted to eat something before we left but time didn't allow that. The Sgt. was pissed when we got there, _surprise-surprise_. It was about half-past-ten when we showed up and were supposed to be here _hours_ ago. When we arrived, the Sgt. was there so fast that it seemed he had materialized out of thin air to come bark at us. He immediately began vigorously chewing us out. We tried to explain we slept in but he wasn't having any.

"What do you mean you _overslept_?" The Sgt. began, "Since when does a robot sleep?"

Lockdown rolled his optics. "First off, it's a recharge cycle," He grumbled, "And we didn't get back until two in the morning, last night-"

"That's not an excuse, you were supposed to be here and we were supposed to be patrolling the harbor at six-"

"We?"

"Yes, _we_ -"

"Why are we going to the harbor?" I interrupted.

"We patrol that area often because it's been the most recent Autobot activity hotspot," The Sgt. explained, "Just until they decided to move out, again."

I have heard the Autobots like to move around. They tend to randevú in groups and pick up other comrades they find before hopping from place-to-place. It's almost exciting to get to see some of them up close.

"And you think you're coming with me, this time?" Lockdown scoffed.

"Yes, the Col.-"

" _I don't care_ what the Col. said, I'd rather put up with the girl,"

Here we go again. "Can we have a day where you two don't have some sort of beef with one another?" I chimed in. I looked up at Lockdown. "There's nothing you can do, you might as well let him come with us," Now that I think of it, that may have come off as if I didn't want him to come along either. "We probably shouldn't be wasting time bickering about this."

He stared back at me and then he looked at the Sgt. He then looked away and shook his head. "Whatever," he grumbled.

All three of us stood there in a weird silence, for a moment. The Sgt. walked away without a word. I guess he was going to let the Col. know we're finally here or something.

"I can't stand him," Lockdown said once the Sgt. was a safe distance away.

"I still don't understand why," I replied, "He seems like an okay guy."

He didn't reply. Something probably happened that made them hate one another. By the looks of it, neither of them seem to remember why they're mad at each other. I didn't bother to ponder. The Sgt. came back a few minutes later and a guy holding a clipboard full of papers followed up behind him.

"Ok, you guys are cleared to go," The man said.

"If we find any of them, what do you want us to do?" Lockdown asked. The man stared blankly. "Do you want them back dead or alive?" Lockdown then clarified

"Dead or alive?"

"Yes,"

He looked at me. I looked at him. He looked at the Sgt. and he looked back. He looked up at Lockdown, and Lockdown looked back at him. He looked to his left, he looked to his right. He looked down at his feet. He looked all around, looking for a sign. Somewhere. Anywhere. He finally looked back up at Lockdown.

"Kanoff, don't worry about-" The Sgt. began.

"I'll speak to my superiors," The man interrupted before trotting off.

"Where the hell are you going?!" The Sgt. called out. But it was too late, the man was already gone.

"What was that, even?" I asked.

The Sgt. sighed. "Private Kanoff, he had the ' _cactus of shame'_ before you got it. But after that I think he just may be getting it back,"

" _Cactus of shame_?" I was almost offended by that. I've been carrying that cactus in my bag since he gave it to me. _I really do like cactus._

"I'm pretty sure he's _borderline retarded_ ," Lockdown added. I snickered loudly, it was funny hearing such a word come from the mouth of a creature like him. "That won't be the last of him. Should we just go?"

"Most certainly,"

So we left. Lockdown took on his vehicle form and we drove rather than taking the dropship, again. The Sgt. wouldn't let me have the driver's seat. I guess it made sense to drive since the harbor isn't as far away as Evergreen is. The harbor located in a city called Seasalt, so we'd have to blend in anyway. The city's kinda small and it's an okay place. _Unless you leave the tourist area._ Since I was a little kid I've always found it exciting to go there. There's a lot to see and do and a ton of restaurants but that isn't what we're here for, today.

I stared out the window and watched the cars go by as we sped down the highway. From past experience, I've always noticed the more high-end of a car you have, the more likely other cars will _get the fuck_ out of your way. I guess cause no one wants to have to pay for damages if they end up hitting you. Can you blame them? I've had family members with cool and expensive cars and all, but a Lamborghini was some next level shit. I don't think I've ever seen one in real life before this.

I could tell both Lockdown and the Sgt. were almost on edge. None of us spoke, much. We're not too good at making actual conversation, I suppose. Do any of us really have _anything_ in common? I guess I shouldn't worry too much. It was too much of a bright and sunny day for me to be feeling down. The sky was a gleaming cyan and the clouds floated by in huge clumps. They looked so puffy and soft. We crossed a bridge over the harbor and it was nice seeing all the buildings and the water below us from up here. It was a great day for a trip.

We took a short drive through the city and parked right by a small shopping outlet and we were both instructed by Lockdown to hop out and start our patrol. I clutched my bag and grabbed onto the door handle. When I opened up the door and placed my feet on the ground, I noticed many, many people stopped to stare. I stood up and shut the passenger door and I realized they were all _marveling_ at this vehicle. I took a look around and saw quite a few people on the sidewalks and even more closing in to see this car. They were chattering with one another and others taking pictures with their cellphones. These people were in complete awe.

It felt almost embarrassing. I clutched my bag tighter and looked down at the vehicle. I could only imagine how Lockdown was feeling about all of this. The Sgt. and I exchanged glances and I shuffled over to him. There were all kinds of businesses in the outlet. Apparel stores, restaurants, souvenir shops and more. We stepped inside a clothing store for a moment and the Sgt. lead me to a less populated area in the shop.

"I have a few things for you to keep on your person," He began to take a few devices from his bag he brought along. He held them out to me, and I took each of them into my hands. He placed a finger on the one in my left hand. "This one is a transmitter, hit the top button if you need to contact me and hit the bottom one for Lockdown," He then pointed to the one in my right hand. "And this one is an Energon detector." He flicked a switch on the side of it, and the screen booted up, displaying a '0.00'.

"What's that for?"

"These bots emit this stuff called 'Energon,' and it can be picked up by the detectors if they're nearby,"

"Ah,"

"It'll probably start to pick you up since you've been around Lockdown. It shouldn't be enough to set it off. If the reading gets high enough, it'll begin to beep,"

I opened up my bag and dropped the two devices inside. "So what's Lockdown gonna do? Won't he stick out?"

"He tries to blend in and go unnoticed," The Sgt. scratched his head. "But he doesn't understand that Lamborghini's aren't that common. He gets upset when civilians stare or get too close, but he doesn't ever seem to wanna listen to me."

"Yeah, he gets like that,"

"My advice to you is to walk around and look as normal as possible. I don't care what you do, just as long as you're not goofing off and staying in the same place for too long,"

"Right,"

"I want you to go toward the water. You have that necklace thing going on-"

"So I'm bait, again?"

"Yep," He walked out of the store without another word.

 _Well shit._ I walked out of the building as well to see the Sgt. heading down the road. As he lit a cigarette, he began disappearing into the crowd. I looked in front of me and I noticed Lockdown was gone. Looks like I'm on my own. I turned around and saw the water just over the horizon with a few boats peppered here and there throughout it. It seemed calm and quiet in contrast to the bustling crowd around me.

The streets were colorful with all kinds of banners, decorations and even the people's clothing were bright and vivid. The air was a kind of warm, today. I began to make my way down the street. There were a lot of things to take in, so many different shops and all kinds of buildings and statues. Traffic suddenly seemed to have slowed down, and it ended up getting pretty bad. For a while, no one was really moving. As I walked along, something caught my eye across the street. It looked like another clothing store but in the window display was a pleated skirt in the most beautiful royal blue I have ever seen.

At first, I thought ' _I shouldn't be spending my money like that'_ but it's not like I'd go hungry, the Sgt. gave me rations, and he'd probably give me more if I just asked. But then again it's not like I have a job anymore, if I run out of money then that's that. But, _It doesn't cost nothing to look though_ , so I strolled ahead and met with a crosswalk and joined a few people in waiting. The crosswalk light was still red, and cars were still pouring through the street like water at a floodgate.

When the crosswalk light turned green, the cars mashed their breaks as a countdown started. All of us eagerly began to make out way across. I didn't get too far before I found myself nearly jumping out of my skin at the short honk of a loud car horn. I stopped and turned to see a dark-colored Lambo; it's front bumper only inches away from me.

"Damn you!" I shouted with a scowl before running the rest of the way. _Lockdown is such a jackass. What are the odds of seeing him again?_ Still feeling a little sour, I briskly stormed over to the shop I had my eye on, and I felt my mood quickly shift when I pulled open the door, and the fresh-smelling air hit me. I could hear the radio playing some bubbly pop song along with the slight ' _whir'_ of a ceiling fan. The girl at the register greeted me. After waving back, I began to take a look around.

Their dresses were cute, and their skirts were nice. Their sweaters seemed pretty good quality, but this stuff was way out of my price range. No way I was gonna pay $80 for a jacket or $30 for a plain skirt. Needless to say, I left empty-handed. I wandered through the city for awhile, and I entered a ton of shops and bought a few things here and there. I ended up with three skirts, jacket and I finally wised up and bought a blanket by the time I decided to stop and get something to eat. I checked my Energon detector periodically throughout the trip and it stayed at a healthy 0.26 all day. First time I checked it, I was a little concerned. I thought for a moment and I then realized like the Sgt. said, I've been around a Transformer for _days_ and it's probably picking up what rubbed off on me.

Hopefully the Sgt. wouldn't be mad when he finds out I've been shopping. He _did_ say he didn't care what I'd do, just as long as I didn't hang out in one place for too long. I kept track of time, though. I didn't stay in a store for more than 10 minutes at a time. There was a mall right by the water that I walked into. The Sgt. did tell me he wanted me to go to the harbor and walk around there, too. I decided after getting a quick meal, I'd take a take a walk on the sand by the docks.

The mall wasn't very big. There weren't many people in here, much to my delight. Getting some food and getting out of here wouldn't be too much a chore. I could hear faint music playing, and my footsteps echoed throughout the building as I approached a map on a glowing sign. I don't think I've ever been in here before, despite coming to the city so many times.

I found there were a ton of restaurants in this place. Big ones, small ones, fancy ones and anything in between. I wanted something simple and quick, so maybe the noodle shop on the second floor would suffice. I had to resist the urge to go into every store I passed by as I made my way up there. I'm a shopper at heart, I love to go to stores, and I especially love buying things. I'm certainly not the only one in the family who's like this.

Sometime later I found my way to the noodle place. The food was pretty good. I might come back here next time I'm in the city, but I digress. Night was falling fast, and I had to get going before it gets too dark. I walked out of the mall and noticed the air had gotten a bit chilly. The sun was setting, and the sky was split by the reds and oranges of the evening and the navy blue of night. The area was pretty much barren; there weren't many people around. I walked down onto the sand and looked out onto the water. The docks stretched out far, and a few tethered boats floated next to it almost motionless. The water was so calm. It lapped gently at the sides of the boats and the wooden posts of the docks. It was nice being out here alone.

I felt my stomach drop when something suddenly interrupted my moment. It was a high pitched, quiet beeping that caught me completely off guard. I turned and looked all around, but I couldn't find the source. I scratched my head, and then I remembered something. I opened up my bag and dug through it for a moment before pulling up the Energon detector. It had a reading of '2.46,' and just as I thought, it was the source of the beeping.

My eyes narrowed. That means one of them is nearby. My first thought was that it could be Lockdown coming by. I took another glance around, but he was nowhere in sight. The number was far too low and far too steady for him to be moving around near me. I'd imagine the number would go up or something. I turned to my left, and the number began to lower. I turn to the right and rose slightly. I looked up and saw nothing. Nothing but the sand and the docks. I took a few steps forward and watched the number rise.

" _Where this thing is, it's hidden pretty well-"_ My train of thought paused, and so did my body. This could damn-well be Dino from the other night. If it really is him and he's cloaking, I could be in serious trouble. This guy wanted me _dead_. With a shaky hand, I fumbled for my bag. I have to tell the others. Before I could even get my fingers around the transmitter, my foot quickly sunk into the sand and I yelped loudly. My mind went blank. Suddenly I began to sink once more.

"Oh _FUCK,_ " I shouted. I was being pulled into a sinkhole! I tried to call for help, but it was only in vain. I suddenly sunk down one last time and instead of being sucked down into a sandy grave, I began to fall into a pit. I didn't fall far, however. In a sudden blur of motion, I was grabbed out of the air by something, and it happened faster than I could explain. When I began to settle, I realized I was swept up into a massive metal hand. My head darted around, and I was staring into the blue optics of a yellow-green bot. I began huffing and puffing and could see a sense of dread growing in the bot's face. He dropped to his knees and let me fall to the ground before recoiling back away from me.

"God, what have I done?" The bot muttered. He looked away from me with his head in his hands, and before I knew it, I was looking into the glowing barrel of a canon. I was speechless. The few seconds this went on felt like hours, almost.

He lowered the weapon. "I can't do it,"

Yet another Autobot who has tried to murder me. Probably so I wouldn't be able to snitch. At least it wasn't a revenge killing, and at least this one couldn't go through with it.

"You can't tell anyone I'm down here," The bot spoke frantically

I tried to speak to him as calmly as I could. "You're an Autobot, aren't you?"

"Please, I'm sorry,"

I stood up and dusted myself off. I looked around to see my shopping bags, and their contents were strewn about. I began walking around and picking up my things. "I won't tell them anything," When I finished, I looked around and saw we were standing on a sandbar surrounded by water. This must have been some sort of cave. I looked up and saw the hole I just fell through. The ceiling was at least fifteen-feet thick. How lucky that _me_ of all people had to be the one to fall through.

"Where are we?"

"It's a sea cave. The humans haven't discovered it yet,"

"How long have you been here?"

" _Months_ ,"

I took yet another look around. The dying light from the surface was the only light down here. I turned around and noticed a slight bit of a glimmer of light coming up through the water. Perhaps that's where this guy got in, to begin with. It's almost surprising that no one knew this sea cave existed. It may not be _that_ close to any structures, but still. I guess no one thought about it. The thought of anything like this in this area never really crossed my mind, either.

I looked back up at him. "Who are you?" He stayed silent, and I saw a look of suspicion cross his face. "I promise I'm not looking to send anyone after you."

"Ratchet," I could still see caution in his eyes. "Autobot medic."

"Call me Vega," I looked away sheepishly and then looked back to him. He must be one of the more passive Autobots. Perhaps he knows something about what happened in Chicago all those years ago."I need to ask you something, Ratchet," I unlatched my necklace. This caught his attention. "I lost a good friend of mine when she was taken away for siding with you guys-"

"Marina?"

I paused and looked up at him. Marina was, in fact, her name.

"That's her necklace," He leaned in to examine the piece of jewelry. "You knew her?"

"I did. She told me worked with you guys,"

"And she was caught?"

"She gave herself up,"

"She has to be dead," He backed away and looked down for a moment. "She worked with Sentinel; she had have been killed." I figured. I couldn't help but feel upset at hearing that. She never told me the part where she was working directly with Sentinel. Needless to say, I was surprised to hear that.

"So you were there for what happened in Chicago?"

Ratched looked back up at me. "Yes, I remember it all,"

"Can you talk about what happened - if it's okay? I just want to be able to understand the situation-"

"No, it's fine." He said reassuringly, "This all started when our leader found out the humans were hiding something from us. Fifty years ago, I understand that your kind - the human visited your planet's moon. They hid from us that one of our ships was located there and it belonged to Sentinel, our former Prime who had left our world centuries ago. He and his crew crashed and ended up lost on the moon for decades to come."

That part I did not know.

"When this information was finally released to us, we then planned a moon mission, and I was among the chosen to go. When we found him, he had a device aboard his ship that had many different pillars that formed a space bridge when they were all activated."

"I heard a lot about the bridge. I heard all those pillars were sent out across the world or something," I began noticing that stupid detector still going off. I reached over and picked up before flicking the switch off.

"Correct. Upon Sentinels revival, your friend Marina was tasked to work with him and introduce him to Earth culture. He had given here that piece of the All-Spark which she later had embedded into a jewel." He began to sound dire as he spoke to me. "It's said that anyone who touches the shard directly gains powerful knowledge. That's why she sealed it inside the gem. Sentinel may have used it as means to make her turn against the humans and side with him,"

"I see," I fidgeted with the jewel in my hands. "Did she ever have problems with Decepticons because of it?"

"Not that I know of,"

I looked up at him. "It's been leading them straight to me,"

"Decepticons wouldn't be a problem if humans remained our allies. If the humans could just understand this isn't all that we had wanted. Sentinel was a traitor to our team, and the humans have become just that, as well,"

"I could imagine you had a lot of trust in this guy. It's not like anyone could've seen that coming,"

"They let that rat Lockdown take control of them. He's going to tear us all apart. Now there's nothing we can do,"

"Right," I muttered, "He wants all of you gone."

I saw Ratchet's gaze fixate on me. His expression grew almost leery. "Do you know about him?"

"I- I do," I stuttered, "I don't want you to panic, but he captured me." He looked very appalled at hearing this. "He found out about the necklace, and he's been sending me to look for you guys."

He quickly scrambled to his feet almost defensively. He seemed alarmed by hearing this. I clutched my bags to my chest. "I promise I won't tell him you're here!" I shouted quickly. "We haven't caught any of you, yet. We came across Dino, but he got away from us, so he's safe." Ratchet seemed to be calming down, now.

"I didn't choose this," I tried to explain. "If you can get me out of here, I'll keep him away from you."

"He's here now?"

"Yes, but I promise you'll be safe,"

"I don't know if I should trust you,"

"Most of the people I knew sided with you guys and to a degree, I do too. I was a fugitive before this because everyone I knew was jailed for it."

"Is this true?"

"Yes. Do you think I really wanted to be swept up into this? I don't care about the Decepticons because they want me _dead_. As for the Autobots, I don't want you all persecuted and slaughtered because I know you're the only hope for peace on this planet. Lockdown doesn't know I'm siding with you guys."

He placed his hands on his hips and thought for a moment. "You seem genuine, but I'm not sure how to get you out of here," He then turned to look at the water. "My dream is one day this war will be over. Perhaps one day they won't see the need for snuffing us like insects," he turned and looked back at me. "Maybe one day you and I will live in peace."

"I hope so,"

"Now, I need to get you out of here. The way I get in an out is through an opening underwater. Can you swim?"

"Hell no,"

"Hmph," He stood there silent for a yet another moment. He then suddenly and carefully wrapped his fingers around my body and lifted me. "Can you climb?"

"A little bit," I said, sounding unintentionally vague. He reached up, and I was met with the hole to the surface. I extended my arm, and my hand couldn't quite reach the edge. I looked down to see he was at his limits. "What if it collapses, again?"

He thought again for a moment. With a slight flick of his hand, I was flung up and out of the cave. My face met with the sand of the surface, and I looked up and realized he had managed to throw me to the edge of the water. _Goddamn._ I stood up and brushed myself off again. I noticed my stuff was all over the place... _again_. I gathered it all up once more and approached the hole in the ground.

I leaned in and looked down. "What do you want me to do about this opening?" I shouted.

"Leave it, I can take care of it," I heard his disembodied voice echo up from the cave.

"Ah, okay. Goodbye, I guess." I slowly rose back up, feeling pretty bad. I couldn't help but feel he had a sense of distrust in me, but I won't let him down. It was dark and very cold, now. I brought the necklace up to my face and took a moment to gaze at it. Is it really true Marina had something to do with Sentinel? I then fasten it back around my neck before walking away.

I easily convinced Lockdown and the Sgt. that I didn't find anything. I kept my word, and I told them the harbor was clear. I guess they had barely any luck finding anything. They didn't seem to notice I was a little off-beat, which is a good thing. When someone asks me ' _what's wrong_ ' I can't help but spill out my mind like an open book. When we got back, Lockdown and the Col. had work to do, so I ended up spending the night at the airfield.


	9. Run Like Hell

Chapter 9:

Do you know what I'm surprised about? The fact I haven't had to pull my gun on anyone, yet. I thought about this as I watched some guy give a weapons demonstration this morning at the airfield. He was waving around a rifle without much care, and I thought to myself ' _if he shoots somebody, should I shoot him to save everyone?'_. I brought up the fact I had a gun once earlier, but the truth is I didn't wanna talk about it much because I'm not supposed to even have it. I bought it from some guy down the road before I fled my home. I wanted to go to a gun shop so I could know what I was getting but it was far too risky, at that point. I wanted it just in case I was attacked during my travels.

Even though I never had formal training for it, I know for a _damn fact_ that what this guy is doing is not gun safety. He probably shouldn't be pointing in the general direction of people, like that. I think this may be the Pvt. that talked to us, yesterday. I don't know if this guy's gun is loaded, but if it is, God have mercy on these men. Lockdown was only hanging out a few yards away from me. He was leaning against a building playing with a 'data-pad' is what he calls it. After I had breakfast and cleaned up, I came out to find him, and when I asked, he told me that's what it is. It's like a tablet like we have on Earth, except it does a lot more or something.

But I digress. He stopped working to witness whatever the hell this guy was trying to convey with this weapon. He seemed just as perplexed as me. I was praying that this man doesn't pull the trigger by mistake. The men didn't seem bothered at all by this, which is odd. If I were any of them, I'd be nervous as hell with a gun pointed near me, like that.

"Do you know what's even happening here?" I asked Lockdown.

" _Not a clue_ ,"

"Who gave Pvt. Kanoff a gun?" I heard a voice call in the distance. Everyone in the squad turned around to find the source. It was the Col. and he looked mildly annoyed. He stormed up to Kanoff and snatched the rifle from his hands.

"Is this thing loaded?"

"Yes sir, Sgt. Gunther told me to give a demo, sir-" The Pvt. babbled.

The Col. began to toy with the weapon a bit. "It's not even on safety. What's your problem, boy?" He watched Kanoff's eyes darted around nervously. "It's like Gunther _wants_ us to die!" He dropped the weapon back into the Pvt.'s hands. I think he may have switched the safety on, but yet I'm still very afraid of him letting this man have that gun.

The Col. turned his attention to the two of us. "I have something for you two today. It's more so a cleanup job-"

" _No,"_ Lockdown declined firmly.

"It's not what you think, it's-"

"Tell Vega,"

I quickly looked away.

"We're kind of short-staffed around here-"

"That's not my problem," He began to walk away.

"It's something you get to exterminate!"

Lockdown stopped and turned around. The Col. had enticed him with the promise of murdering something. I thought was almost funny in a very unsettling way.

"We have a shed by the airstrip that's been completely overrun by a massive hornet's nest, you see,"

I tilted my head. "How big are we talking?"

The Col. looked down at his feet nervously. "It takes up the entire shed. We want you to just destroy the entire thing,"

"How does that even happen?"

"No one's set foot in there in years because I lost the only key. When I found it, and we opened it up, we couldn't _believe_ what we were seeing,"

"I take this is some sort of pest?" Lockdown inquired.

"Indeed," The Col. answered "Very nasty little things."

"Where is this shed?"

"At the very end of the line," The Col. pointed to a general area pass the planes and down the airstrip. From what I could see, several sheds were lining the pavement. I could see one at the very end. That's probably the one he's talking about.

"What do I have to gain from this?"

The Col. looked to his left, then to his right, then back up to Lockdown. "I didn't expect to get this far,"

"I'll think of a suitable way for you to compensate,"

"Good enough,"

And with that Lockdown began to make his way down to the airstrip. I didn't notice he was leaving at first and I looked like a little puppy dog scampering after him as he walked off. When people saw him coming, they knew to get the fuck out of the way. They moved their equipment and cleared out like a colony of ants around a poison crumb. I looked up, and I noticed he didn't even bother to look and make sure he wasn't stepping on anyone, he just kept trekking along. I guess they knew he wasn't going to bother looking out for them.

We headed toward the very end of the airstrip like the Col. told us, and we were met with a dirty, dingy-looking shed. I kept my distance. From where I was standing, it was painted a faded light blue color and pieces of dirt and grime stuck to the many stringy cobwebs clinging to the sides. The walls were dented and warped. This thing seemed to be abandoned for _eons_. Lockdown brought down his visor and seemed to have been taking a scan of the shed.

"Yes, this seems to be it," He spoke. He brought his visor back up, revealing his face once more. "I took a thermal reading. It's a little ridiculous. Open up the door, Vega.

"No _fucking_ way I'm going near this thing,"

Lockdown rolled his optics. He knelt down and locked his finger around the handle before roughly pulling the door open. I jumped back, and he quickly rose to his feet when we saw the hornets inside swarming around their nest. This hive was _massive_. No - that is an understatement. A huge understatement. This nest had covered the entire floor of this shed, and it crept up the walls on one side to maybe three feet. I could see old rusted equipment - computers, radars and other tools, sticking out from the hive. There was no redeeming this shed. No wonder the Col. wants the whole thing destroyed.

A look of disdain crossed Lockdown's face. "This is disgusting,"

"Hornets are tiny demons, my friend," He turned around and stared at me as I said this. "We have these things called bees that are just like them, you see. Except their smaller and we have them to thank for the flowers and fruits and all,"

He looked away and began to walk closer to the hive.

"But hornets though, these guys may look like bees, but do not be fooled. They sting, and it hurts _bad_ , these guys will fuck you up-"

He must have completely tuned me out because he then proceeded to stick his foot inside of the shed and directly into the hive. A massive chunk caved in around his foot, sending the hornets into an unholy frenzy. They began spewing out of the nests in thousands. I took off running, but I was far too late. They had already set their sights on me. It wasn't long until I started feeling the first few stings. I screamed in pain and as I ran, desperate to escape, but I suddenly lost my footing. I twisted my ankle and landed on the ground, making me an easy target. I covered up my face and rolled on the ground crying and screaming at the top of my lungs begging for someone - anyone to come and save me. I could see nothing but hornets. It was a cloud of nothing but pissed off hornets. I felt like I was being shot over and over again. This is a pain I wouldn't even wish upon my worst enemies. This is what purgatory _must_ feel like.

I heard a loud ' _bang'_ in the distance. He must have destroyed the nest once he realized these things were attacking me. In the seconds that felt like hours, I was quickly swept up in Lockdown's arms, and I could faintly make out him swatting the hornets away with his hand. He held me near his chest trying to defend me from these heathen insects. I don't remember much about the trip back to the base to get some help. When I finally snapped back to reality, I was laying on the pavement. A bunch of men came to help, and I heard him tell them he couldn't get me to stop screaming the whole way back. He seemed mildly aggravated.

They sat me up and began picking stingers out of my flesh. The Col. was there too. He caught my attention when he announced he found a hornet tangled up in my hair. I wasn't conscious enough to care.

"Dear God, what are we gonna do about this?" One of the men grumbled, "We can't let her deal with bee-stings like this!"

The men continued picking stingers out of me for quite some time until I heard a familiar voice coming from the distance.

"What going on here?" It was the Sgt. He sounded genuinely confused.

"Vega got attacked by hornets," I heard Lockdown speak.

"It was your fault-" I slurred out. I turned and saw the Sgt. take one quick glance at me.

"What the fu-? What the fuck are you doing?! She needs to go to the hospital!"

"I don't wanna go; I don't like hospitals" That isn't even true. I was just that out-of-it.

"Vega, you could _die_."

I don't remember what I said in response to that. The last thing I remember is a vehicle pulling up and the men practically carrying me to it. I passed out and was greeted with darkness somewhere along the line before we even made it to the vehicle.

I woke up in a bed in the dead of the night. It was dark, and I could see the faint moonlight shining through the window. To my right was a curtain dividing me and something else, I wasn't sure what. Suddenly sounds began to process, and I heard a faint beeping to my right. I rolled over in my bed to see an IV bag and heart monitor about an arm's length away from me sitting next to a nightstand. By the door was a cream-colored closet and clock hanging just above it. I laid there and stared at it for some time. My eyes narrowed. I just couldn't make out what it was on it. I couldn't seem to focus enough to read it.

Then, noticed the TV was on. It was playing some trashy sitcom, but that was the least of my problems. The stings burned like hell every time I moved. I suddenly became furious when I remember that Lockdown let this happen to me. This was practically all his fault because he wouldn't listen to me.

I realized I was _starving_. I was so hungry that breathing was almost painful. I reached over to the nightstand and fumbled around, and my hand finally grazed a remote. I brought it up to my face and pressed the red 'call nurse' button.

"Nurse," I wheezed, "Bring me food. Just anything." I placed the remote down. I ended up passing out before the nurse ever got there.

After another sleep, I woke up once again. It must have been around noon. I was still incredibly hungry. The nurse must have left when she realized I was passed out, again. I had a hard time reaching for the remote. I was feeling very very weak, and I could hardly speak. The nurse did come by this time, and she was holding a tray with a meal. She sat the tray down on my nightstand and told me to call if I needed anything.

As soon as she walked out, I didn't hesitate to dig in. The tray contained some roast chicken, a salad topped with a dressing, and a generous slice of blueberry pie. I had never felt a better satisfaction in my life as I devoured this meal. I was sure to leave nothing behind. I slowly began to feel like myself again as my strength started to come back. I had a few questions for the nurse, but I wanted to take it easy, first. I noticed the swelling of the stings had significantly shrunk. They were still a little painful when I began to prod at them, but it was nothing like what it was before. I looked around and noticed that the curtain was still shut and the TV was still on. I picked up the remote and began to flick through channels, only to realize this is cable TV. There's nothing worth watching, here. The nurse came back, again. She walked in and began to pick up my dishes.

"It's good to see you're up," She began, "Last few times I've been in here, you've been out cold."

"So, what happened?"

"You were brought here _covered_ in hornet stings, none of us had seen anything like it,"

"I could imagine it wasn't pretty,"

"Not at all. We had our doubts, but we soon realized you'd be able to pull through,"

I placed the remote down on the nightstand. "Why wasn't I fed?"

The nurse gave me a funny look. "What do you mean?"

"This is the first time I've eaten since I've gotten here,"

"We've been collecting empty dishes for three days now-"

"Three days? The only times I've woken up are the first time I called you and then just now,"

The nurse looked befuddled.

"Who's behind the curtain, there?"

"It's a little old lady; she couldn't have possibly eaten all of this,"

"Who could have eaten it, then?"

The nurse shrugged and finished collecting my dishes. "I'll see if the Dr. saw anything when she came to check on you." She left the room.

I got bored fairly quickly. I picked up the remote again, desperate for something decent to watch. Truth is, this time of day there isn't anything good, not even on satellite or any other networks like that. I eventually settled for some stupid, sappy soap opera. The thing is about these kinds of shows, one of four things is happening. It's either someone's pregnant, someone's dead or is dying, someone's having an affair, or someone's getting married. These seem to be the only things that happen, and it's always Christmas for whatever reason. _Who invented soap operas?_

I suddenly heard a pounding at my door. "Come in!" I yelled to the guest.

The door creaked open, and two men entered. One of them was holding a potted cluster of flowers.

"The Sgt. told us to bring you these," The man holding the flowers said.

"Oh, you guys are from the airfield," I said. It's good to know they were at least thinking about me, back there. I held out my arms, and he placed the pot in my hands. Sticking out of the dirt were two different types of flower. There was some sort of purple flower I was unable to identify but the black and crimson ones I could recognize. They were Black Dahlias.

"Thank you so much,"

"Also Lockdown told us to tell you he didn't mean to make those hornets attack you,"

Oh. That's right. He's why I'm here. I felt almost angry for a second. It's not like being mad would turn back time, so nevermind that. I took a deep breath. I should let it go. "Tell him I'm not mad, anymore,"

"Will do. You're looking a lot better, today,"

"Yeah, the swelling has gone down. It doesn't hurt as much, either,

"We spoke to the Dr., and she told us you might be discharged, tomorrow. Depends on how much more the swelling comes down,"

After a bit more small talk, they told me they had to hit the road. I thanked them once more and asked them to thank the Sgt. for me. I don't always like receiving flowers, but it was nice of the Sgt. to do. I could appreciate them for that reason. I set them down on the nightstand next to a box of tissues. I don't know too much about flowers; I wasn't sure if these needed sunlight or anything. I figured I'd ask the nurse to move them to the window sill whenever she comes back, just to be safe.

I still can't believe this was Lockdown's fault. I guess he doesn't care about me, really. Not like how I care about him. It's in my nature to be kind to others, even if they don't throw themselves on the line for me. Well, to be fair, if he didn't care at all, he probably wouldn't have saved me from the hornets. If he didn't at least care a little bit, he would've let me die. Thing is, he tuned me out. Maybe he didn't think I was worth listening to. He seems to think he's above humans; maybe he didn't think I knew I was talking about.

If only he could understand me and see me more as an equal. I've always seen him as something more than me or anyone else. It's fairly obvious he is above us. He's a giant robot from outer space that's been slaughtering other robots, for _fuck's sake_. I think everyone seems to underestimate him, which I don't understand. He doesn't need to be protected or anything, but I've been willing to stand by him when someone tries to throw him under the bus. I wish I could tell him I care, but should I really? After all he's done? Should a person like me care for him?

I laid back and watched TV for a little while longer. My mind went black for a while. Then _I shit you not_ ; a man jumped out of the closet, suddenly. He was wearing a black mask that covered his entire face except for his eyes, and I don't know which one of us was more shocked to see the other. I stared at him wide-eyed, and he stared back at me with a similar expression. I was too afraid to move and by the looks of it, so was he. In a swift and brave movement, I grabbed the remote and pressed the call button.

"Nurse," I said calmly. The man scrambled out of the closet and flung open the door before taking off down the hall. I heard a commotion begin as Dr.'s and nurses began rushing passed my door and after the guy. At that moment I concluded my life will never possibly be normal ever again.


	10. What's The Deal?

**AN: Happy 10th chapter! I realized I have a major flaw in my story, or in my opinion; it seems like an issue. Too many characters seem to like Vega. I know her relationships with other characters built up gradually, but it doesn't seem right to me. I haven't heard anyone tell me this yet, but it's something I realized halfway through typing this chapter. It's not like I'm gonna make everyone suddenly hate her, but she's going to end up having more conflict with other characters. I encourage and appreciate reviews, whether it's just a few words of praise or actual feedback. Both these things keep me going, and I just wanted to throw it out there for everyone to know. Please enjoy!**

 **(also sorry for skipping an update the other day)**

* * *

Chapter 10:

The next morning, I found out they caught the guy who popped out of my closet. What he confessed was that he was the one who had been eating my food and nearly starved me to death. The nurse told me all about it when she came by to help get me ready to leave. She took out my IV's and unhooked me from the heart monitor. After she did so, she held out her hand and lowered my necklace into my palm.

I closed my hand around the necklace was, and I confused at first, but she told me the man had stolen it. He was waiting for an opportunity to get a hold of it, and by the time he did snatch it, there were too many nurses around for him to escape. In the few minutes he'd have, he'd snatch up my food and eat it quickly before leaving the plates out. He'd resumed hiding, after that. I couldn't believe it. The nurse seemed a little surprised that I was more pissed about the necklace rather than the fact he was hiding in my room.

"He almost _stole_ this from me?"

"I'm very sorry. He's been detained, and multiple charges are going to be pressed,"

She doesn't know anything about what this necklace really is. I'm really praying this man didn't snatch it because he knows what it is. I'm hoping he just noticed it was a pretty piece of jewelry he could pawn off and nothing more. If that were his intentions, it _still_ wouldn't be a good thing, so I'm glad he didn't make off with it. I should probably let the Sgt. know this happened. I got dressed, and they handed back my bags, and I brought my flowers with me. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Maybe whenever I get back to the Knightship, I'll find a place in the cockpit to keep them, if Lockdown's cool with it.

They called someone up from the airfield, and I was picked up and brought back. What a strange three days, most of which I wasn't awake to remember. Even though I asked the two men who came to visit me to thank the Sgt., I wanted to thank him myself, as well. It felt wrong to just not say anything personally. He was the first person I went to when I got back. I found him hanging out alone and having a smoke.

When I approached him, he removed his cigarette from his mouth and flicked off the ashes while huffing out a cloud of smoke. "Glad to see you're back," He placed the cigarette back in his mouth.

"I just wanted to thank you again for the flowers; I really appreciate that,"

"Anytime,"

"So are they just from you or was this a group effort?"

"Well," He removed his cigarette again and flicked off more ashes, "Yes and no."

"What does that mean?"

"Lockdown told me I'm not allowed to tell you it was his idea," A smirk crossed his face, "He thought we owed you something because he felt bad- or so he says. But I thought it was a good idea, so I went along with it and sent my men to pick something out and take it to you."

"I see,"

"Don't tell him I told you," He said as he placed the cigarette in his mouth, again. "So I heard some guy stole the shard."

I tilted my head. "How did you find out?"

"When they called, they let us know." He breathed out another puff of smoke. "We're going to have someone look into it."

"I was just about to bring that up, actually,"

"Did they feed you breakfast at the hospital, by the way?"

"Nah,"

"Then you might wanna go eat, we have things to do, today."

That was a good idea. I was starting to feel hungry, now that he mentioned it. After bidding him farewell, I trotted off to find a place to sit and have a meal. I noticed the hangar in the distance, and I decided I'd chill out over there, again. This is one of the few spaces in the airfield I was most familiar with since I've spent a lot of time over here. It's nice and shady, and the sun stays out of my face, for the most part. The side I sit on is facing North I believe, so I don't think I'll ever have much of a problem with unwanted sunlight.

I haven't had my rations in awhile. I plopped down onto the grass, set my flowerpot down beside me and emptied my bag out on the ground. I noticed it was yet another warm day. That seems odd to me. It usually starts getting really frigid this time of year. I looked up, and the sky was bright with a few clouds here and there. It felt like a spring day. As I thought about this, I scarfed down a can of sardines, as disgusting as that may sound. I _really_ love sardines. Growing up, all of my classmates would gawk when they'd see me open up my lunch box and pull out cans of sardines. Yeah, I never made many friends, growing up.

That's probably why I grew up to be more of a follower than a leader. I never really had the chance to step up and take a group's matters into my own hands. Even though my life has taken a complete turn for the weirdest, it feels good not being completely in the spotlight and be expected to lead anyone. Their schedules don't bend to me. They don't all drop what they're doing to pay attention to me, and that's a good thing. It'd be hard to adapt if it were all about me. When I'm thrown in the spotlight, I feel like I wanna run away and hide, so no one finds me. Even though my life can't be normal, again, I can still appreciate this opportunity life has given me to walk on the wild side of things.

I have a feeling my journey's only just beginning. I've come to appreciate some of the new people I've met. Sgt. Gunther, who's done what he's could to help me get it together. I didn't think he really liked me at first, but he's one of the more dependable people I've met in my life. I commend him for putting up with me. The Col. who's gone out of his way to talk to us and keep us on track. I'm quite an unorganized person, and Lockdown seems to have a one-track-mind if anything. It's nice to have someone looking out for the two of us. I guess I can appreciate Lockdown in one way or another. He's... _special._

Truth is, if it wasn't for him, I would've never had spoken with Ratchet. That's something I can never tell him, though. I would have never in my life would have been able to know anything else about Marina. I would have never guessed she was on Sentinel's side. I can't say I'm not disappointed in her. Then again, she and I have met the same fate. We were both forced to side with the enemy. I'm sad she never told me this.

There I go getting deep into thought again. I was hunched over with a hand on my chin and the other resting over my knee. Lockdown seems more caring than I thought, which I find shocking. After seeing how he treats everyone else and hearing how little he thinks of humanity, I thought compassion was something beyond him. I don't know how I feel about an alien robot sending me flowers. It was sweet but almost uncanny. I almost wanna ask about it, but at the same time, I don't wanna throw the Sgt. under the bus. Curiosity may end up getting the better of me. I looked down and watched the grass flutter in the breeze. I began to hear the sound of rumbling footsteps. It was Lockdown, of course.

"I see you _lived_ ,"

"Yeah,"

He didn't say anything else, for a moment. He took a few steps toward the hangar and leaned against it and crossed his arms. "I took care of Dino, the other night,"

In a quick motion, I turned and looked up at him. A look of concern must have crossed my face because I noticed his optics narrowed. He looked away from me.

"He wasn't an easy one," he began to recall, "He may have been a fast-mover, but his downfall was that he was not a fast-thinker."

"Where did flee?"

"It was reported there were many sightings by the harbor area," When he said that, I felt my stomach drop for a multitude of reasons. "He seemed to think that cloaking made him completely undetectable, so he began causing havoc and hiding behind it like a wall."

"I see," So, chances are I could have run into him back at the harbor, a few days ago. He didn't mention catching anyone else, so maybe Ratchet's okay.

Dino may have tried to kill me, but I told Ratchet is teammates would be safe from Lockdown. I feel like I let him down, but what could I have done? I was hospitalized. I still can't help to feel like it's my fault. It's not like he knows I was gone or anything. I can't fix what Lockdown feels. I can't stop him from getting done what he feels he has to do. He seems to think he's ' _cleaning out the universe.'_ He doesn't just dislike humanity; he dislikes _everybody_. How does he know what compassion is? How would he feel if he found out I agreed to detour him from the Autobots?

"I need to know something," I asked.

"You _need_ to know something?"

"It's up to you if you wanna tell me or not,"

"What is it?"

I glanced over at the cluster of plants. "Did you have any say with the flowers?"

He turned his head and looked down at me. He was silent for a moment.

" _No_ ," He stated firmly. "What did Gunther tell you?"

"He didn't tell me anything-"

"Yes, he did. Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought it up,"

I guess he had a point.

"Now, what did he tell you?"

"He said you felt you guys owed me something because you felt bad,"

"Is that so?" I nodded. "Well, he's lying to you."

Now I'm met with a dilemma. Who do I trust, here? I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I quickly stood up and gathered my things before beginning to sheepishly walk out of the situation.

"Where do you think you're going?" I heard him call.

"I-I was just going to find the Sgt.-"

"You think I'm lying, don't you?" I didn't say anything. "He wants me to seem empathetic towards you, I suppose. Do you really think I see you as anything more than a pawn in my plans?"

"I-I'm sorry-" I uttered.

"Humans are disposable, all the same," He hissed "Do you really think someone like me would care for _you_? There is nothing special about you."

I suddenly felt a tear roll down my cheek. I stiffened up and placed a hand over it. I didn't even realize my eyes were welling up. I quickly whipped around in the other directions and began walking away. I can't explain how that made me feel. I clutched my bag tightly, and I dragged along with my head down as tears fell from my face and onto the pavement. I was trying hard to _not_ have a meltdown and make a scene.

"Vega?" I heard a voice call. The Col. was maybe a few meters away from me. I noticed the Sgt. walking beside him. I halted and wiped my eyes as they drew closer.

When they got nearer, they noticed the state I was in. "Vega, are you ok?" The Col. asked.

I couldn't help it any longer. I broke down and began to sob loudly into my hands. The Col. placed an arm around my shoulder. The two tried their best to calm me down and maybe squeeze some answers out of me, but it was to no avail.

"Did Lockdown have something to do with this?" The Sgt. asked skeptically. I lifted my head and looked up and him. He looked aggravated. I nodded.

"Yes," I whimpered. "I only asked about the flowers,"

The Sgt. sighed "Goddammit, Vega." He stormed off in the direction I came from. The Col. and I followed. I looked up at the sky, and I thought to myself 'What a nice day to have squandered.' It's so sad I had to feel so terrible on a day like this. To be honest, this was entirely my fault. I shouldn't have said anything. Before we could even reach the two, they had already started arguing. We finally got close enough to hear their exchange.

"Well, what did you say to her?" The Sgt. snapped.

"I told her you were a liar," Lockdown scoffed in response. "She's nothing more than a possession, to me. I don't care for her in the way she likes to think."

"No Lockdown, _you're_ a liar, and you're a _dick_ for being that way to her-"

"You sure are brave calling me such things,"

"Oh? A few words offend you?" I could see Lockdown's face was now twisted in anger. He leaped forward and drew a massive cannon. This isn't going to end well.

"Lockdown, _what the hell_?!" The Col. shouted.

The Sgt. jumped back in shock. "What is your problem?"

"It's _you_. You are my problem," He began to load some strange looking ammunition into his weapon. "And I'm going to solve it."

"Have you ever heard the phrase ' _sticks and stones will-_ " The Sgt. was then interrupted.

"Sticks and stones may break your bones," Lockdown finished loading the cannon. "But hollow-points expand on impact."

The Col. whipped out a walkie-talkie and began frantically shouting into it. "We need help over here; Lockdown is _fucking pissed_!" He lowered the device and looked up at Lockdown with a mixture of fear and anger in his... single eye. "We're having you detained!" He yelled defensively

"You think you can apprehend me?" Lockdown taunted. He fired a few shots in the air causing the three of us to recoil back in fear. The shots rang through the entire airfield. "I'm your only hope if you want these Autobots gone. Just you _try_ to fucking stop me."

Men came. They swarmed the entire area. They pumped him full of electric currents and knocked him out. They apprehended him. And me.


	11. Outside The Wall

Chapter 11:

Looks like Lockdown has been quite literally _locked the fuck down_. I don't get why I had to be thrown in here, too. They told me it's because I'm working with him and they didn't want me breaking him out or something, but that is _bullshit_. They dragged us both into a holding area. They took my bag off of me as well as my flowers and they even took my necklace. They didn't let me take anything into the cell. When Lockdown finally came back online, he was pretty angry to find they stripped him of all his weapons. We were both thrown into a massive cell with chrome walls and no windows and we were told to wait.

Lockdown stood up and placed a hand on the wall by the door. "This room seems to be made of metal,"

"So what?" I replied starkly. I had long since calmed down and I was feeling _salty_ , now. "Why are you surprised? Aren't you made of metal?"

He turned and gave me a glare. "If you walked into a room made of human flesh, how would that make you feel?"

My bitchy expression dropped. I guess he had a point…

After a moment I sat down on the cold floor and leaned against a wall adjacent to the exit. I finally asked, "So what made you flip out, back there?"

He pounded his fist against the wall and growled slightly. "Don't worry about it,"

"When you threaten to shoot up the place, of course, I'm going to worry,"

He turned to glare at me. "Gunther was _not_ supposed to say anything to you,"

"About the flowers?"

"Yes,"

"I mean, I thought it was sweet of you and all-"

"That's the problem," He turned to face me, "It was more of an incentive to get you to keep doing what I want you to. Not because I wanted to be ' _nice'_ or anything."

Something about that sounded almost… _tsundere_ to me. "So do you really dislike me as much as you said?"

"You're almost tolerable. It's easy to get you to do my bidding. I don't entirely hate you," He looked away, "I didn't intend on upsetting you to the point of running to Gunther."

"He wasn't too happy I told you,"

"He should've kept his mouth shut," He pounded his fist against the wall again. "He should have known you'd talk."

I could agree with him on that. I can never seem to shut up because _let's face it_ , I'm way too curious for my own good and I know that, now. Despite the fact the Lockdown is still a nutcase, in a perfect world, this whole situation could have been avoided if the Sgt. never said anything to me. But we are not in that perfect world. We are far, _far_ from it.

"I appreciate you looking out for me," I looked down into my lap at my hands. I have a tendency to play with my fingernails. I'm getting off track, aren't I?

"Why did you think to hide this from me?"

He crossed his arms and shut his optics before turning back away from me. "Don't worry about it,"

"You always seem to tell me that..."

Without a word, he turned around. He then dropped a flat, silver object in front of me. I reached over and picked it up. It was a cellphone. I pressed a button on the side and the screen flickered to life and the lock screen was a generic multi-colored background. I'm surprised this thing didn't completely _shatter_ when it hit the ground.

"How in the hell did you get this in here?"

"Don't worry about it,"

I glared at him. His optics narrowed as he loomed over me and glared right back.

"There's a man named ' _Attinger'_ whose number is saved," He began, "Contact him, let him know he needs to get me out of here, again."

"Again?" He didn't reply. I didn't even begin to wonder. If this wasn't the first instance of him bugging out like this, that couldn't be a good sign. I guess Lockdown has another human ally besides me. Hopefully, he wasn't plucked off the streets like I was. The phone didn't take a passcode or anything to unlock. I pulled up the contacts list and with a quick glance, I found that sure enough, there was an 'Attinger' on the list. At the very top, in fact.

"What do you want me to tell him?"

"Figure it out it yourself,"

For a few seconds, I sat there with the text screen up, but no words could come to me. I just wasn't sure what to say. _How do I tell someone their alien robot companion has been arrested because he tried to shoot a guy over who sent a girl some flowers?_ I had an idea. A stupid idea, but it's something. While Lockdown wasn't looking, I quickly snapped a photo of me with him in the background. It's probably going to confuse the guy at first but at least he'll know Lockdown has a new friend. I don't think any words could describe this situation, anyway.

It didn't take me long to get a reply. This mystery man replied with a " _Who are you?"_

I began to type up a response. I came up with " _I work with Lockdown.",_ and I switched the device off and placed it down beside me. I looked up to notice Lockdown was now sitting beside me and leaning against the wall as well.

"What did he say?" He grumbled.

"He asked who I was..." I said, beginning to yawn. For some reason, I didn't sleep too well, last night. "I told him we work together."

"Hmph,"

Sitting in this cell was boring _as shit_. I had nothing to keep my hands occupied with. I would have played around with the phone but I don't Lockdown would appreciate it. Chances are someone could end up walking in here to check on us and catch me with it, so it's best I keep it hidden for now.

I felt the phone vibrate. I received a message reading " _Is he detained?"_ and I replied with a simple " _Yes"._ I got a very quick response, after that.

" _I'm going to tell them you have a phone in prison."_

"Really?" I exclaimed. This caught Lockdown's attention.

"What is it?"

"He said he's going to rat us out for having this phone," I began to stuff the phone into my sweater. A predictable hiding spot, but a hiding spot nonetheless. "What a snitch."

"He told me that last time," He shook his head. "Don't worry about it, he'll have us brought out of here, soon."

"How did you even type?"

"Last time I had my data-pad with me. I stole the phone from whoever dropped it at the airfield this morning,"

I wasn't surprised in the slightest that he stole it. I decided to take his word and not worry. So we waited. And waited. After an hour, we both ended up sprawled out on the floor. I was laying on my back with my arms and my legs spread out. It was getting weirdly hot in the room and the floor felt nice and cool. I took a look over to my side and noticed Lockdown laying on his chest with his head in his arms. He seemed bored, as well. I can tell he's not happy with being cooped up behind these walls. The door suddenly swung open. I sat up, but Lockdown didn't stir. Three men armed with guns walked in and approached me.

The man in the front did the talking. "We've caught wind you have a device in here," _Oh shit. Attinger wasn't fucking around._

I nervously glanced at Lockdown, who still had his face covered. I turned back to the men. "We don't have anything in here-"

"Yes she does," I heard Lockdown grumble.

"N-no! I don't!" The men didn't look impressed.

"She's lying to you,"

I jumped up and threw my arms in his direction. "It's _his_! He gave it to me!"

"Hand it over," The man said. I angry reached into my sweater and pulled the cellphone out before slamming it into his hands. The three men exited without another word, slamming the metallic door behind them. I stood there dumbfounded, for a moment. I then quickly spun around to the bot on the floor, feeling the petty rage _boil_ inside of me.

"You're a snitch!"

He slowly looked up, and his optics gleamed with rage as petty as mine as he glared at me. "I'm a snitch, huh?"

"Yes! Why would you make me look stupid like that?!"

He didn't say anything.

"This whole situation is because of you! If it weren't for you pulling a shotgun when the Sgt. teased you-"

"First off," He sat up. "It was a railgun, you ungrateful _slut_."

"Whoa, what did you say?!"

"Did I stutter?"

" _Did you just call me a slut?!_ "

"Yes. I did."

I have no fucking words. None. He's a robot, does he even know what a slut _is_?

"If you kept up your lie, they probably would've stripped you right in front of me to get that device,"

I was taken aback when I heard this. I could feel myself completely flushing red. I didn't think of that.

"I figured you had a shred of dignity somewhere inside of you that you would've wanted to keep intact. But I guess I was mistaken," I could see he was very aggravated. "I was trying to help."

"By… throwing me under the bus?"

"For lack of a better term, yes,"

What a madman. I guess the highlight of my day is being called a _slut_ by a robot from space. I guess you can say I've seen it all. Should I even ask if he knows what that is? I'd probably get a smartass answer, anyway. A few minutes later, a few more men barged in. They instructed us to exit the cell, finally. They pulled me aside and took Lockdown somewhere and spoke to him one-on-one. After a few minutes, he came back and snatched me up in his hand before informing me we were both free to go.

We were given back all our stuff. Lockdown got his copious amount of weapons and ammunition back, and I received my bag and my flowers. I ended up cramming the flowers in my bag, along with that cactus from the other day. They'll be fine until we get back to the ship. He ended up getting the cellphone back. He passed it to me in case I ever needed help, which is pretty sweet. I'm surprised they didn't just keep it. You would have thought someone would have recognized whose it was. I don't have any kind of charger for it, so I turned it off and stuck it in my bag for now. I'm surprised the Sgt. hasn't asked for that cactus back...

It was becoming evening when we stepped outside, and the sky was dark, and the air had gotten quite chilly. We headed back to the Knightship. Still, don't know why he calls it that. If I'm going along fast here, it's because nothing eventful happened on the way back. He seemed a little irritable after having a discussing with whoever was in that room they pulled him into. It was that silent type of anger. The kind of anger where whoever has it is furious, and you can easily tell, but they don't wanna say anything about it. If that makes any sense.

I would have thought we would have been going directly to the cockpit after all of this, but instead, he took me to another part of the ship. He doesn't let me roam, so it was kind of exciting getting to see more stuff. The entire ship has such an eerie, and dead feel to it. It's surreal and I just can't get enough of it. I think we've established I've come to find it very cool. We ended up in some sort of holding area. Almost like the one I woke up in when I was first brought here, but it was somewhat smaller. When Lockdown's foot it the floor, it echoed throughout the chamber. It seemed somewhat hollow in here.

"What are we doing here?" I asked. We hadn't said a word since we've gotten back.

"Feeding my creatures," He replied. "I _highly_ doubt anyone's fed them today."

"Creatures?"

"Alien life from other planets,"

"On your ship?"

"Where else?"

The walls were lined with cages of all shapes and sizes. _These are not creatures_. _They're something beyond that stage._ These were unholy malformed abominations that were held within these cells. These things look like they shouldn't even be living. Lockdown set me on his shoulder. I almost instantly wrapped my hands around a metal piece sticking out by his neck, and I huddled next to it to keep my balance.

"Don't let me fall," I whimpered.

"Shut your mouth,"

I'm not too much of a fan of heights. He approached a big metal box right by a wall. He reached down to open it up, and I glanced behind me at the alien monsters, who were now pressed up against the front of their cages and very hungry-looking. I swallowed hard as I noticed them all eyeing me down. Lockdown stood up, and I noticed he picked up several massive slabs of meat from this box. It must be a meat locker or a cooler for whatever he was feeding these things.

I noticed the monster's eyes were all fixated on him and the meats, now. I didn't let my guard down, however. He reached over and popped open the door of a cage that belonged to a giant spider-looking thing. It was disturbing, to say the least. I recoiled back and squeaked like a scared mouse when it scuttled closer to the edge of the cage floor. As soon as Lockdown held up his arm to offer it the meal, it snatched up the meat in an instant causing him to leap back from the shock of it. He grumbled something under his breath and slammed the door before locking it up.

The next one was some squid-looking monster that looks like it does not need to exist under any circumstance. It had tentacles and a body shaped like a squid… but it had legs and sharp teeth, and it was a sickly green color. _On what planet is this okay?_ When Lockdown dangled the meat in the creature's face, it hissed and recoiled back.

"Do you want it or not?" Lockdown growled. "I'm not playing games with you."

It's almost funny listening to him talk about these things like rowdy children. The squid creature then thrust a few tentacles forward a couple of times, and he recoiled back each time. Finally, the creature settled.

"Well?"

The creature lowered its tentacles for a moment. Then in an instant, one of them jolted toward me and wrapped around my foot before whipping me off of Lockdown's shoulder. I cried out in utter horror, and he jumped back at the sudden noise coming from me. I was left dangling upside-down and screaming for a moment before he wrapped his hand around my body and dropped the creature's food. He then whipped out a blade which he used to slice off the creature's tentacle, and it let out a deafening shriek of its own. It happened so fast I wasn't sure what to even make of what was going on. He pulled me toward him before practically smashing the cage door shut.

He held me up and dangled me in his face. Mind you, still upside-down. My eyes were wide and couldn't even move. "That was bound to happen. I forgot this one _really_ likes humans." He said.

He placed me back on his shoulder, right-side-up. "I'm sorry, it _likes_ people?" I babbled while trembling.

"Yes,"

"You've… fed it people?"

"They were stowaways. I don't think anyone misses them," He picked the meat slabs back up. "I certainly don't."

I think it's best if I just change the subject. "Where did all these things come from?"

"Different parts of the galaxy," He turned around. Behind us were two snake-looking things. They looked pretty pissed, and he simply looked down at them and said: "Oh, I see you and your brother got out, again."

"They're all disgusting," How does he just talk so casually to these things? He talks to them like we talk to pets here on Earth.

"It's because they're not native to your world," He tossed two remaining meat slabs at his feet toward the creatures. One of them quickly jolted their heads at him as the means of a fake-out attack. He flinched. "Get away from me, then." He scoffed at the creatures. It's almost like they reacted to those words, as they took the meat and slithered off back into their cages which were _wide open_ , mind you. They weren't open when we got here; I'm pretty sure of it.

He caught up with them and closed and locked the cage doors behind them. "They're probably unlike anything you've ever seen, before,"

"You travel to worlds and just pluck off a lifeform you like?"

"Precisely,"

We went back to the cockpit. I was glad to be out of there, _Jesus_. I never want to be snatched up by a tentacle monster ever again in my life. The dogs seemed exceptionally happy to see Lockdown. They approached him with their tails wagging and gave an occasional few happy barks. He patted their heads before stepping up on the platform and taking a seat on his throne, and the two of them took their places next to him. He removed me from his shoulder and placed me down on the armrest.

"What a day," I mumbled. I sat down, and I plopped my bag down on my lap. I plucked out my plants and well as a bottle of water. I took a look over the armrest. I suddenly got a nagging feeling something was looking at me, and I was right. I noticed the dog was sitting down, facing the armrest. He must have been hoping to get my attention. When he saw me, his tail began swishing back and forth rapidly. I leaned down and tried to graze the top of his head with my fingertips, but I was just a little too short. He got up on his hind legs, and sure enough, I was able to give him a quick pat.

The airfield was once again looking lit up and lively in the night. It's almost like they never sleep, down there. I stared out the cockpit window for a while, taking in the sites. Suddenly a thought resurfaced. "So, what happened to keeping me caged up?"

"That awful scent has seemed to pass," He said, "Most likely because you've been here for so long, the ship's scent has stuck with you. To think I was afraid your scent would rub off everywhere."

Makes sense to me. "So what did they say to you back there?"

"If I act up again, they'll exile me," I was surprised he answered so quickly.

I pushed my plants aside and leaned against the throne. I twisted open the cap of the water bottle, it making a satisfying ' _crack'_ as I broke the seal. "You should probably work on your anger," I took a long gulp of the water. "I gotta say, for having so much contempt for humans, you have a very humanoid face."

He looked shocked to hear such a thing. He grimaced in disgust before pulling up his screen. "I do not,"

"I-I mean-" I began to stutter, trying to touch back on to the real subject, "You should learn to be less aggressive when something upsets you. Control your anger, in a way."

I watched his optics narrow as he tapped away at his screen. "I don't _need_ to control my anger. What I need is everyone to stop pissing me off,"

"Well, if it's _everyone_ that pisses you off, it may be a ' _you'_ thing…"

"When you've put up with each and every type of personality that this universe has to offer, it's hard not to be pissed off by everything," I guess he has a point. "Do you even know how long eons are?"

My eyes darted to the left for a moment as I thought, then back to him. "A million years,"

"I'm not asking how many years, which your answer is _wrong_ , mind you. I'm asking how _long._ The length of an eon is far beyond anything that your tiny mind could ever process. Hell, you'll just barely make it to a century, if you're lucky."

"True,"

He leaned in and loomed over me. "I have been around for many, _many_ eons," His gaze became harsh "If you could understand how many people I've met and everything I've ever seen, then you'd understand why I'm _never_ in a good mood."

I blinked a few times. His sheer dismay was intense. I feel almost bad. At one point in his life, he's had to been happy at least once. By the look in his optics, I can tell it seems those times have long passed him by. He went back to his work on the screen, and I screwed the cap back onto the water bottle. "I don't wanna see you get thrown off the planet,"

"Vega, there's nothing you can do,"

"I just want you to handle things a bit more rationally,"

"I can be rational-"

"You pulled a fucking gun on the Sgt. for calling you a liar!"

He growled, "I wasn't in a very good mindset,"

I stood up and put my hands on my hips. "Just settle your problems without whipping out a weapon, is what I'm saying," He stopped what he was doing and stared at me. "What I do when I get really upset with someone is I get up and walk away without another word-"

"How does that solve your problems?"

"Well, I leave, and I cool down and analyze the situation before coming back and telling them what upset me and how we can fix this," I waited for a response, but he didn't say anything. "It helps sorta-"

"I see,"

"Sometimes it's best to stop yourself mid-argument and let it go. Stop and think to yourself ' _Can I really do something about this and is it worth being angry about?'_ and if not then why carry on?" I sat back down. "If it's not worth getting angry about, then what's the use?"

He seemed to be pondering what I said, by the looks of it. It's a little concerning that he has to be taught social etiquette. Let me elaborate on what I said earlier. For a guy that has so much contempt for humans, he seems to look an awful lot like one. He has such a human-like face; it's almost uncanny. It seems to be the very function if that makes sense. While I've seen nothing but anger and negativity in his expressions, it's certainly a wide variety. What doesn't make sense to me is how detests different species getting along, but he doesn't seem to have a problem striking up a deal with anyone else. Hell, his only friend is a _human_. He doesn't seem to have his own morals in check.

I bet you're thinking " _Vega, why do you even care about this guy?"_ I'm not sure why. I wish I could teach him empathy or mercy, probably something he hasn't seen much of. I think everyone deserves someone who can understand them. But at the same time, I wanna run away and hide from him like everyone else because I know he can be a savage. Does he even want empathy? Could I ever fully understand him and his botched ways of living? I'm not entirely sure what to do but there's no point in crying over split feelings, I suppose.


	12. One of my Turns

**AN: Jesus Christ, sorry I keep vanishing. Yes, I did change the title, don't worry. This is still the same story with 'the one chick hanging out with Lockdown' as a friend of mine described it. It's so accurate it hurts, in fact. I just really hated the title, and I wanted to change it to something better that still kept the Pink Floyd theme going on here. Anyway, I should be getting back to consistent updates, soon. I did a ton of editing of the previous chapter as well. I seem to have a problem with words completely missing in sentences, so I've been fixing those, cleaning up the grammar, and changing up dialogue. I suggest taking a peep at it.**

 **This chapter won't be very long; I'm sorry if it's an underwhelming return :c**

* * *

Chapter 12:

I sprung awake with a violent twitch, gasping for air. I must have stopped breathing in my sleep, again. This has been a more recent thing; sometimes I just stop breathing. I'm not entirely sure why. It only happens occasionally. I woke up lying on my back with my right arm dangling over the side of the armrest and the other over my chest.

I sat up, and I draped my blanket over my shoulders and wrapped it around my body. I looked around, just like any other morning. The sun was just starting to rise, and a dim, warm glow blanketed the cockpit. Despite being warm under the blanket, I could still tell it was a little chilly, this morning. The ship doesn't seem to have any heating systems or anything. Why would Lockdown need it? Robots don't get cold. The frigid air must be finally setting it. I noticed Lockdown was missing from his throne. In fact, he was missing, _altogether_. I took a scan around the room, and the bot was nowhere to be found.

I guess I shouldn't be worried. He must be wandering the ship or something. In the meantime, I opened up my bag, and I dug out a variety of things. Another can of sardines, the cellphone, and a roll of yarn to keep myself busy after I eat. I was feeling awfully hungry, this morning and I took no time to hesitate from scarfing down those sardines. _Yum._

I peered over the armrest. I had a nagging feeling I was being watched. I was right. Lockdown's robo-dog - the one that I liked, was staring at me. His tailed began to wag a little when I noticed him. He jumped up, and I leaned down to pet his head. He seems to like that. I haven't interacted with the other one. Most of my attention has been going to the one I fed a can when I was first brought here. He never barks or anything, he doesn't seem to hate me, but maybe I should try showing him a little love.

I sat back up and looked over the other armrest. I wasn't entirely sure how to get this one's attention. He was lying down on the other side of the chair, as far as I knew. I thought for a moment, then whistled. It actually worked as he timidly peeked around the corner and looked up at me. I held the can downward toward him, and he cautiously approached. He jumped up and carefully accepted the empty can and crept back to his spot. I could hear the sounds of metal crackling as he ate it up.

After settling for a moment, I picked up the cellphone and flicked it on. It took a moment for it to boot up and finally the screen came to life, displaying a ' _7:02 am'_. I rose up to stretch a little, and I let out a dragged-out yawn. Something about this morning felt different. I couldn't help to notice how beautiful the dawn sky looked. The horizon was lined in a cream-orange as everything beyond it was beginning to take on its azure color. It was like any other sunrise, but something seemed a little more special.

Perhaps because this was my first time being left alone in quite awhile, now. I appreciate Lockdown's company, and I appreciate the company of everyone else at the airfield, but sometimes it nice to be alone for a little bit. When I sat back down, my attention was brought to my yarn. I reached over and held it and the hook in between my fingers. Thinking. What would be useful to have with the coming winter weather? A scarf? Maybe some gloves? I let my mind wander for awhile.

My attention was diverted when I realized Lockdown had entered the cockpit. He took a short stride to the big window; I watched him blankly, my mind still buried in thought. He stared intently at the world below him. I could see his glow of his optics reflecting from the glass. He seemed apathetic. After a few seconds, I found myself fading back into reality.

I decided to get his attention. "Howdy,"

He turned around and gave me a confused glance.

"That means 'hello,'"

He didn't say anything.

"Where were you off to?"

"Engine room needed maintenance," He said in an indifferent grumble. He turned around to look out the window, again. "I would have told you, but you were still asleep."

If he just woke me up, I wouldn't have been mad or anything. "I see," I said, and I placed my hook down. "Do I ever have trouble breathing while I sleep?"

"Why?"

"I couldn't breathe this morning,"

"Yes, you do," He replied somewhat quickly. "Your breath shortens and becomes heavy. But then I move your arm from off of your chest, and you're fine, after that." He didn't look away from the window as he said this. It was a little hard to hear him, facing a different direction like that.

I lifted my arm and looked at it for a moment. I _did_ wake up with it over my chest. I guess that's why I stopped breathing. Why didn't I think of that? Suddenly the phone rang, and I jumped. Lockdown slowly turned around and gave me a look of aggravation, like it was _my_ fault the phone rang. I didn't break eye-contact with him as I fumbled for the phone, pressed the answer button and held the device to my ear.

"Hello? Hello!" A man's voice came through the phone. "Where's Lockdown, I've been trying to contact him all morning-"

"Who… who is this?" I asked sheepishly

He went silent for a moment. "Tell him ' _Attinger'_ needs to contact him,"

"Oh!" I moved the phone from my ear. "Lockdown, Attinger needs to contact you."

His face went blank. "Who?"

"Are you kidding me? Attinger!"

"Ah," His face turned apathetic once more. "What's that _dumbass_ want now?"

"Dumbass?" I heard the man scoff from the speaker. " _Did he call me a dumbass?_ "

"Lockdown!" I shouted. "He heard you!"

His expression was still stoic. He didn't even seem to have second-thought about what he just said. "Tell him I'll speak with him in a moment,"

I held the phone back up to my ear. "Did you get that?"

"Yes," The man sighed. He hung up without another word.

"Lockdown, why did you do that?"

"Don't talk to me," He stepped up onto the platform and took a seat on the throne. He pulled up his screen, and he pressed a few buttons, and then he spoke.

"What is it?" He said.

"Lockdown, it's nice to finally get a hold of you," The man replied. "Where have you been, all morning?" I assume this was that ' _Attinger'_ guy from earlier. His voice sounded different over this transmitter thing.

"Don't worry about it,"

"I see you've found another human ally. How did this come to be-"

"I honestly hope you didn't call me up just for small talk," Lockdown snapped coldly.

The man was silent for a moment. "Right,"

"Then what do you want?" He sounded just as nasty as before as he said that. He seemed to have _zero-patience_ for bullshit today.

"We have a bounty for you, I was going to have Col. Ambrose give you the mission, but I wanted to speak to you myself,"

This seems to have caught Lockdown's attention. " _Go on,_ "

"There's been reports of activity - Autobot activity in Alaska, lately-"

"Alaska?" I interjected.

"Correct," A series of images popped up on the screen. It displayed a map with a few dots and as well as images of what these Autobots look like. "These three are known for being reckless and easy to spot. However, they're far to fast for any of us to catch. Their alternate forms are race cars."

Three of them. Red, blue, and green. They all looked similar, in fact. The most noteworthy feature being each of them had some sort of visors that masked their optics. They almost looked at the glasses or something. The points marked along the map must be where they've been spotted. I counted at least twelve. Twelve sightings of these guys.

Lockdown was staring intently at the screen, analyzing every little dot that peppered the map. "What's in it for me?" He inquired.

"Intel," The man replied. "Through means of interrogation, they could give us Prime's location."

"You want them back alive?"

"Yes,"

"I'll do it."

We left the ship shortly after this conversation. Lockdown seemed a little more aggravated than usual, today. He didn't say much to me. Now that I think of it, I do remember him bringing up that he was looking for someone here on Earth. I had no idea it was the Autobot leader. I can't think of his name off the top of my head. Prime… Prime- _something_. I guess his name isn't all that important, right now.

We arrived at the airfield about an hour later, I'd say. I showered, I ate, did normal morning stuff. When I got back, Lockdown stayed in the same place, for once. I was surprised to see the Col. talking to him almost casually despite what happened the other day. He had his glass eye in, today. I approached them both, and it was kind of odd seeing the Col. with two eyes, again. I didn't wanna bring it up though, _that'd be rude._

The two of them didn't notice me at first. It wasn't until Lockdown's optics met my eyes that the Col. caught on and whipped around to greet me.

"Vega! There you are!"

"Good Morning, Col.,"

He scratched his beard. "So… Is everything okay with you two, now?" He said, glancing back and forth between Lockdown and I. He had a very cautious look in his eye. Almost like he was afraid to ask. I looked up at Lockdown, waiting for his response.

"Yes," Lockdown replied in his stern voice. I looked at the Col. and gave him a thumbs-up.

He nodded in response. "Okay," He muttered. "I take you've gotten the details for the mission we want to send you on, correct?" Lockdown nodded. "We have work for you to do here, still. We've been getting reports of activity in some part that we need you to check out. Ideally, we want you out in Alaska within three days."

"We can manage that,"

"We're trying to get you docked at another base, there. This particular area has a six-month period of darkness, this time of year, so you need to be prepared for that,"

"That shouldn't be an issue,"

"These three bots we want you to haul back are a weird bunch, from what I've heard," The Col. sighed. "I'm not looking forward to dealing with them."

"Do you have anything for us today?" I chimed in and asked.

The Col. took out a small metal case from his pocket. He opened it up and popped a cigar into his mouth. "Yes, but once again you'll have to wait until night." He then pulled a match from the same case and lit the end of a cigar. He took a quick puff before continuing. "They seem to be most active around the later night hours. When everyone's asleep, and no one will see 'em."

And so, all that was left to do was wait. _Again._


	13. Eclipse

Chapter 13:

The day always seems to go by at the pace of a dying slug whenever we're waiting around for something to do. Today was no different. I sat in the grass by the hangar and fiddled with my yarn, for a while. Lockdown soon came by and stood around with me. Eventually, the Sgt. came to chat and following along was that one Pvt. with the gun, the other morning.

Lockdown didn't seem too happy. He doesn't want anything to do with these two, anymore. I had my attention divided. I know any second something would start between them. I'd have to break it up, again. On another note, I decided I was gonna make a shawl. Something simple to make and put on that could keep me warm. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm running out of yarn. I didn't wanna make something out of the stuff I made my sweater with, so I sacrificed my only roll of black. This one roll just isn't gonna cut it.

I could look for a craft store in the city that carries yarn. I still have money left. The problem is, I don't know if they'd be okay with letting me out for something stupid like that. Lockdown didn't seem too interested when I expressed my concern to him.

"I don't see why it would be an issue," Lockdown said in an apathetic tone.

The Sgt. was leaning against the hangar, coolly. He had a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He plucked it from his lips and blew out a puff of smoke. "The Col. won't care," He assured. "He'd probably want me to go with you."

"She'll be fine with me,"

"He'll want someone keeping track of you two-"

"We don't need a babysitter."

I swiftly looked up from my work. "Guys-"

"That's not what I'm saying; it's just that-"

"I'm trying to say is I _don't_ want you around,"

"Well, that's not your call to make," The Sgt. flicked the ashes off of his cigarette before placing it back on his lips and shaking his head. "It's going to be a long few weeks in Alaska."

Lockdown narrowed his optics. "What do you mean?"

"The Col. didn't say?"

He didn't reply.

A smug grin crossed the Sgt.'s lips for a second. "I'm coming with you. Pvt. Kanoff, too."

"Are you, now?"

The Sgt. chuckled before walking away. I've never seen him so smug, before. I bet in his head; he's been planning how he's going to make Lockdown's life _Hell,_ these upcoming weeks. I shuddered at the thought of how Lockdown would end up dealing with it. The three of us stood there staring at one another. The Pvt. looked fucking clueless. He looked like he didn't know what to do, now that the Sgt. left without him. He hasn't said a word since he got over here, even.

I could tell Lockdown had a lot of choice words he could say, right now. "There's nothing you can do; you should just let it go," I said, trying to calm him.

"If he thinks I'm going to bend over backward for the Col., he's sorely mistaken,"

"I dunno man," The Pvt. began. "It sounded like he may be threatening you."

He looked down at the man by his feet. "He's going to try to get under my skin. He _thinks_ he'll get away with it."

"I get you!" The Pvt. exclaimed. I was almost taken aback. Why on Earth would he think to patronize Lockdown, of all people? Now, I can safely say I am his only genuine friend. He probably doesn't think so, but it's true. But I don't like seeing him act this way, I don't think it's fair. The Sgt. is only ever doing what he's been told to do, and Lockdown tries to walk all over him. _Figuratively_.

"If the Sgt. looks at you wrong, you get angry," I said snidely.

"It's almost like he's challenging me," He didn't seem even to acknowledge that I spoke. "He's always thought since the humans have what I'm looking for, that I'm on their side. He seems to think I'm humanity's _bitch_."

"I hear 'ya, boss. I hate it when people try and _a-soon_ shit," The Pvt. said stupidly.

All of the Pvt.'s credibility flew out the window right at that moment. The matte black bot looked at him tilted his head. "When they _what?_ "

"When they _a-soon_ things without knowing all the facts!"

I began to snicker loudly. He stared at the Pvt. blankly for a moment. "One more time?"

"When they _a-soon_ things!"

It finally clicked in his head what the man was trying to say. His optics narrowed. "You can't possibly be this stupid, can you?"

I busted out laughing. I couldn't help myself, any longer. " _Assume_!" I blurted in the midst of my laughing fit. "The word is ' _assume_!'" The Pvt. looked almost offended at my laughter. By the sound of it, the Pvt. didn't side with him to be malicious. It seems to be because he's just _stupid_. A genuine type of stupid rather than an _evil_ type of stupid.

He wandered off, shortly after. He seemed so aimless. How did someone so dopey get to work here? I would ask myself that, but then I realized that _I'm here_. Then again, it's not like I had a choice. Neither did they, really. I've been leery of him with just how ditzy he could be. I'm not sure how I feel about spending the next week or two with this guy.

When dusk began to fall, The Col. came back for a spell. He told us we were headed for Evergreen, tonight. He gave us a quick run-down. We were supposed to go track down a Decepticon that was running rampant around the campgrounds. It was terrorizing campers and ripping trees right up out of the ground. Incredible, but oh-so terrifying. On our way to the area, I pondered how those campers must have felt coming eye-to-eye with one of these things. Whatever terror must have ripped through them, I can, unfortunately, say I know how they feel.

I can't say I was looking forward to coming back here, again. This area is pretty creepy, at night. I thought that even when I was a little kid. Not to mention, I was almost _killed_ , last time we were here. I don't think many people can say a robot tried to slit their throat and run away. I have that battle scar to prove it, in fact. It's mostly healed, by now. There's still a noticeable indent on my face. From time to time, I find myself running my fingertips across the scar when I'm thinking.

We parked the ship in a similar location as last time. After a short walk, we were met with the same long, straight road that stretched out into the void. I _despise_ going out in the darkness, especially when it's cold. It feels all the more foreboding.

"You know what to do," Lockdown said in a low voice as he made his way into the brush. He seems to speak so quietly at night.

"What?" I replied.

He turned around and glanced down at me. "Head that way," I could faintly make out him extending his arm and pointing in the direction behind me. "Try to stay quiet."

"We're not taking the path?"

"Not this time."

I trust he knows what he's doing. I stepped into the dark woods nervously. I felt the wind blow and chill me to the bone. It's weird being back on this ' _bait'_ job again. It's been awhile, I honestly almost forgot that's what I was here for, to begin with. There were many dark and faint shapes of trees and bushes all around me that were my guides. The leaves have all fallen at this point, and the moon was shining through the treetops effortlessly.

The moon was just a sliver in the sky, and it didn't make it any easier to navigate. I resorted to using my sense to help me through the woods, again. I felt around, grabbing and sliding my hands against the trunks of trees. The bark felt rough and frigid to the touch. It was a dead-silent night. I didn't have any sense of where I was even trying to go. I just kept wandering.

It seemed to work any other time. This Decepticon would eventually sniff me out and come for me, like the rest. I wasn't looking forward to meeting with another one of these bots. My train of thought was completely derailed when my foot was caught on an object, and I hit the ground. As I got up, I turned to try and make out what it was I tripped over. I squinted my eyes as they began to adjust to the darkness. It was a fallen tree. A fairly obvious one, at that. How come I didn't notice that?

I dusted myself off and took a look around the area. This tree wasn't the only one that seems to had fallen. In fact, they were _ripped_ out of the ground... This must be an area the Decepticon had been causing havoc in. I felt a bit of nervousness well up inside of me. I was most likely closing in on the bot. I took a few steps forward, but then suddenly, I halted in my tracks. I could have sworn I heard a low growl just behind me. _That can't be good._ I can't trust any kind of noises I hear behind me in the dark, anymore. I didn't want to turn around. I crept forward a few more inches. Then I heard it once again. _A deep snarl_. I swallowed hard, frozen in place. The curiosity clouded my judgment. I mustered up some courage and swiftly swung around to look.

Nothing. No dark forms. No red glowing optics. Nothing. I quickly turned back to press on, this time at a running pace. I held out my hand in front of me. My eyes were better adjusted to the darkness, now and I notice I was _shaking_. I was starting to regret this. I couldn't keep up the running, much longer. My asthma was beginning to act up. I had no choice but to stop and rest.

As I stopped and caught my breath, I watched what I could see of my surrounding like a hawk. I seemed to be in a clearing which may not be a good idea. A few more ripped-up trees littered the forest floor. It _had_ to be around here. I began looking for signs, but there didn't seem to be an indicator of anything being around. Maybe I was wrong. I started to second-guess myself. Maybe the snarling was something I imagined. Then again, it was hard to tell if I really was alone, with everything cloaked in darkness, like this. Even with my vision adjusting, it was still kind of hard to see. The sound of the trees and bushes shuffling rode on the steel breeze. The wind was icy and cold against my hot skin. When the breeze stopped, it was silent. My heavy panting was the only thing left to hear.

Suddenly, a loud, involuntary shriek erupted from my throat as a giant, beastly Decepticon seemed to have appeared from nowhere. It ferociously launched itself at me with a loud, animalistic howl. I immediately turn to sprint as fast as I could away from the angry bot. I felt the ground vibrate as it took off charging after me. In the distance, I heard an ear piercing ' _buzz_.' Almost like a missile.

I was exactly right. It was a missile. I glanced around and watched as it pierced the back of the Decepticon before tearing through its chest. Bits of shrapnel flew overhead and began to pelt me _hard_. The bits of metal were searing hot as they came down, burning my exposed flesh on impact. I fell to my knees and covered my head in an attempt to shield myself. I was a sad sight to behold. _Curled up and whimpering in pain_. The trembling fear was more than I could take. I peeked up, and there _he_ was. Lockdown yanked the convulsing bot up by its shoulder before tossing aside and out of his way.

I slowly lifted my head, my body still shivering in terror. The sheer cold didn't help, any. His face was masked with the emerald glow of his visor, and he slowly walked toward me. He stopped and looked at me for a moment.

"Vega," He sounded concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I uttered quietly.

"Are you sure?" He looked a little closer at me. "You seem to have sprung a leak."

My eyes grew wide. I didn't realize I was crying. I swiftly turned away, feeling my face grow warmer. I can't believe I was _crying_ from this. Like a little bitch. The bot's attention was drawn back to the Decepticon that was near-death and lying on the ground. It began to spit some incomprehensible babble.

Lockdown began to ready a weapon. It seemed to be the same thing he used when I first saw him. "What have you been lurking around here for?"

" _The shard!_ " The bot hissed.

"What do you want with them?"

The bot turned to him and weakly let out a throaty growl. This didn't seem to phase him.

"You're trying to revive your comrades, aren't you?"

The bot only glared.

"Hand them over."

The bot lunged up and hissed and growled at Lockdown, who jumped back at the sudden motion. I can't say I wasn't startled as well. I didn't think this thing had enough life in it to even move, hardly. In an instant Lockdown speared the weapon deep into the chest of the Decepticon. It shrieked in agony as a glassy orb was ripped from the wound. It fell lifelessly to the forest floor, _dead_. Lockdown knelt down and began inspecting the corpse, it seemed.

I rose to my feet and wiped the cold tears from my eyes. "Did this bot have a shard?"

"Yes," He tossed the body to the ground and held out his hand to me. There were two small, silver, jagged bits of metal in his palm. "Two, in fact."

I came a little closer to look. I could faintly see carvings engraved on these shards. This must be what the one inside my necklace might look like.

"Where do you think they came from?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Maybe we should have asked…"

He stood up without a word, clutching the shards in his hand.

"What do we do with the body?"

"Humans will clean it up," He opened his palm and looked at the shard, again. "I'll need to contact the unit from the dropship." He began to walk back from where we came. "Stay here."

I didn't have time to protest as he disappeared into the dark. _Why would he leave me here like this_? Here I am, alone with the dead body of a bot we killed. Well, a bot _he_ killed. I was only an accomplice. Like that's any better. In the ten minutes that passed, I didn't take my eyes off the carcass. I began to feel silly. It's not like it'd magically spring back to life and kill me. This thing is _pretty_ dead.

Out of nowhere, I felt a hard tug on my bag from behind. I turned around to see a tall figure in the darkness hanging onto the strap. I quickly caught on and wrapped my arms around the bag and began to yank right back.

"Stop! Get away!" I screamed. He pulled harder to break my grasp, and I tightened my grip in response. We played a rough game of 'tug-of-war' for quite some time. I was shocked when I realized he didn't seem to even mind the robot corpse lying only meters away from us. He probably didn't even notice it. His attention was fixated on me for a while. It wasn't until a bright light that shone like the sun flicked on, that his attention was diverted. He looked at the unknown source.

The figure let go of the bag and stepped back. I could now fully see the features; it was a man with dark hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in mostly black, and he had a look of astonishment and pure fear plastered on his face. When I looked up to the source of the light, I realized who it was. It was Lockdown. I now realized he had headlights just below his shoulders, one of which was lit up. He knew what was going on and he looked _pissed_.

I watched him kneel down and pluck the thief off the ground. He held him up to his face, staring menacingly. None of us said a word. The silence felt like it went on for hours. The man struggled from Lockdown's grip with ease in mere seconds, faster than he could react. To my surprise, he instantly withdrew a _massive_ knife from his belt. _How was he hiding that_? In a swift motion, he plunged the knife just above Lockdown's right optic, and he reared back and cried out in anguish. I let out a loud gasp at the sight.

The enraged bot struggled to pull the attacker off in this state of panic. The thief somehow managed to slice through his optic with the knife and reach what would be the bot's cheekbone. He finally ripped the man off his face, who took the blade with him. He threw him to the ground and sank down, covering the wound with his hand. It was gushing a fluorescent blue fluid, and it was coming out fast. The thief was groaning and in pain. He couldn't seem to get up. Lockdown shot up off of the ground in a _berserker rage_.

" _YOU VERMIN!_ " His face was twisted in anger. Not figuratively. _Literally_. I could see that his face seemed to be made of moving parts. They were spaced out in a way that made the mechanisms visible. Almost like his face wasn't even meant to portray this level of anger. He seemed almost unrecognizable. I could faintly see sharp ridges that resembled teeth in the back of his throat as he yelled. When he's straight-faced, just how mechanical he really is isn't very apparent. But like this - in this state of pure infuriation, he looked like an animatronic coming apart. It was horrific.

I swear I jumped back a few feet at the sound of his yelling. He pulled a massive cannon and aimed it directly at the terrified human who began pleading for his life.

Against my better judgment, I tried to talk him down. It was entirely in vain. I'm not kidding you when I say this guy practically turned to _mist_ when the shot hit him. It even blew me back and knocked me down. There was hardly a trace left of this man. Just a puddle of blood and bits of bones and brain matter. This has got to be the worst thing I had ever witnessed _in my life_. I didn't know what to think.

He dropped the weapon and clutched his wound. The blue liquid was puddling on the ground below him. He was visibly in a lot of pain. I scrambled to my feet and looked, for a moment. I began to step toward him. He didn't seem to notice me. Not until I reached up and brushed my hand against his face, slightly.

He didn't respond to being touched very well. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it. His working optic widened, and he growled slightly. I quickly removed my hand and observed the blue fluorescent liquid that was now smeared on my palm. It was hot like wax and burned my fingertips. It was a stinging pain. This must have been some sort of life fluid, like blood. I quickly wiped it off onto my skirt and looked back up at the bot, who was winding down, now.

"I don't think that was a good idea," I spoke.

"I wasn't _intending_ on killing him," He said in a gritty voice. "He shouldn't have stabbed me."

"You can't just kill people, though,"

He sat up, still covering his wound with a hand. "We'll tell them he interfered,"

"What difference will that make?"

I looked down at me and blinked a few times. "I have a license to kill any human that gets in my way,"

I was a little disturbed by this. This guy can't be the first. "And you think that's okay?"

 _"Sometimes they deserve it."_


	14. In The Flesh

**AN: Did some more editing of the previous chapters. I just cleaned up a lot of the grammar and all. Jesus, some of the small things I missed make me feel like a dumbass. I'm surprised no one has genuinely asked if I'm retarded, yet. I get it; I'm human, I only make mistakes but _Lordy_ Just a fair warning, I am not fond of this chapter. Like... at all. It's probably going to be redone, but it's here for story progression. And hell, if it's bad, it's bad. I can always make it better**

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Chapter 14:

A crimson bot turned around and looked at me. He must have noticed me sitting on his shelf. I was looking up at him, curiously. My legs were crossed and hanging over the edge of the shelf. I looked to my left, and there was a big, dark blue encyclopedia leaning against the side of the bookcase. I looked to my right, and there was a charcoal black stapler, larger than my entire body. I didn't question it.

The bot was standing in front of a T.V set and in his hands, he was clutching a brightly colored vase. Three little purple flowers were poking out of the top of it. "The flowers are all in full-bloom, today," He spoke in a gruff, deep voice. "It's a beautiful day to be burning in hell."

I didn't say anything. I took a closer look around the room. Between him and I was a black couch. It was made for someone his size, someone as tiny as I would get lost in the cushions. The walls were painted an off-white color. Ivory, I guessed you'd call it. It reminded me of a field of daisies. I looked back up at the bot. His gaze was still locked on me, but one thing had changed. He now had a book in his hands. The vase was nowhere to be found.

And then I realized I was dreaming.

The notion hit me like a train. The second I noticed the vase turned into a book, I was able to snap back and realize this was all a dream. But where in the hell was I?The answer was fuzzy, but one thing was now clear to me. The bot standing in front of me was dark red. His eyes were mostly blacked out with two little glowing blue dots for optics. He had a massive open wound on his chest. He was elderly-looking and very familiar. This bot is Sentinel Prime. That same bot that tried to tear the world apart. That same bot that scarred me when I was 12. That same bot Marina worked with. What was he doing in my dreams?

Has anyone ever told you how reliable you are?" I jumped at the sound of his baritone voice. It completely broke my train of thought.

I wasn't sure what to say. "N-no," I nervously stuttered out, playing along. "No ones… really told me that." I felt kind of weird speaking to a figment of my dreams, like this.

"That's surprising," He placed the book on top of the T.V. "You've done a lot for me."

I tilted my head. What was he talking about/em? My thoughts wandered for a moment. Perhaps this was some sort of projection from the past. Maybe my mind is distorting everything. The way he spoke to me was odd. Besides the fact nothing he's sad has made any sense, it's almost like he knows who I am. I sat up and called out to him.

"Sentinel," The bot turned around, upon hearing my voice. "What's my name?"

He gave me a puzzled look. "Your name?

I nodded.

"Marina, isn't it?"

It makes sense now. I looked up, and the roof seemed to have disappeared. An orange sky was overhead. Could it be that Sentinel or even Marina herself may be projecting something to me? I probably sound like a loon, saying this. There might be something they want to show me, here. I seem to have consciousness in this dream, but what is it I'm supposed to do? My only option, for now, is to ask questions.

"What are we doing here?"

Sentinel began to look almost worried. "Has something gotten into you, dear?"

I cringed slightly at hearing that. I hate being called 'dear/' by strangers. "What is this place?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

I guess he's not going to answer that question. Dreams are strange. I noticed the necklace was hanging around my neck. I began to fidget with the jewel before looking back up at him.

"Where have all your friends gone?"

"I'm sorry, Marina, they won't be here, much longer,"

"Why is that?"

"You and I must seek happiness."

And at that, I woke up. I immediately sprung up with my blanket wrapped around me tightly. I looked around to find I was now in the real world. I was still in the cockpit of Lockdown's ship. When we got back, he left me here and left to get his eye fixed up. I wasn't feeling well. The shock still hadn't fully set in from what I witnessed earlier that night. I crawled down from the armrest of the throne to sit by the window. For a while, I was looking at the stars until eventually, I began drifting off to sleep.

I was snapped out of it when I heard a voice. "Vega," My eyes became wide. I blinked a few times, snapping back into reality. I looked to my right to see Lockdown, sitting a few meters away from me. He was facing the window, staring out into the night. "How did you get down here?"  
I was feeling calmer, now. "I climbed,"

"I hope you're not traumatized or anything,"

"I'll be fine."

It was a beautiful night over the airfield, again. I left my mind to wonder. Just like always, I found myself tracing over the stars and piecing together constellations. Aries stuck out to me. The ram constellation. In fact, 'Aries' is Latin for 'Ram.' It doesn't look like a ram at all, to me. Surely, I'm not the only one to think this. People thousands of years ago must have been imaginative to see these star formations as animals and people. I don't always get it, but I can appreciate it, still. That's the key to a lot of things in life.

I looked up at Lockdown and noticed his optic seemed to be working, again. He had a new scar to accompany the other two along that side of his face.

"How's your optic?"

"Fine," He said flatly. "This isn't the first time it's happened. It never seems to hurt any less, each time."

"Sorry,"

"Don't be."

I fell asleep again, shortly after that. No weird dreams, this time. The next morning, we headed out to the airfield, like any other morning. Lockdown let me know we had nothing to do today, really. We were set to head out to Alaska the day after tomorrow. The Col. told us they're currently finishing up preparations. I was really stressing out about this trip, at this point. I've never ventured too far from home, before. Hell, even when I was a fugitive, I didn't wander off too far from home. But I tried to put the thoughts aside, for now. I had the rest of the day to relax and come to terms with the thought.

Sadly, The thoughts of my dream were still nagging me. It didn't seem to make much sense to me. I haven't thought to ask around the airfield for anyone who knows anything. I'm surprised I hadn't thought of it, sooner. Of course, the Sgt. is the guy I trust the most here, so I went to him, first. It didn't take me long to find him. One thing that just now struck me as odd is how no one ever seems to be doing anything here. No one's ever busy. Maybe this isn't a very eventful unit.  
He was pacing in front of a building, smoking, once again. I've noticed the past few days he's been smoking a little more often than usual. Maybe he was feeling the same way I was about this whole Alaska mission. I ran up to him and called for him to get his attention.

He turned around to look at me. He flicked a few ashes off of his cigarette. "Hey,"

I stopped in front of him. "Sgt, may I ask you something?" I said, huffing and puffing.

"What's up?"

"Do you know anything about Sentinel, the guy who caused the invasion?"

"Oh, hell yeah," He stuck the cigarette in his mouth. "We had a guy here for awhile that worked for the N.E.S.T unit. I don't think we're allowed to tell you anything."  
"Well, does the name 'Marina' ring any bells for you?"

"Marina? Not at all,"

I pulled the necklace from out of the collar of my sweater. "Well, this necklace belonged to a girl named Marina. She was a friend of mine, and she worked directly with Sentinel."

"Really?"

"The shard inside the jewel came from him,"

"I've never heard of anyone working with him,"

"Me neither," I tucked the necklace back into my sweater. "Not until recently."

"Who told you this?"

My stomach dropped. The seconds it took for me to formulate an answer felt like minutes passing. "Lockdown told me," I fibbed.

"Of course," He blew a cloud of black smoke from his lips.

"Well, I had a dream the other night…" I began, "And I know that the All-Spark has weird effects on humans-"

"So you think it's messing with your dreams?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but-"

"Not at all, we've heard the stories,"

"Well, in the dream I had, I spoke with Sentinel," The Sgt.'s eyes narrowed when I said this. He seemed to doubt me. "He seemed to have thought I was Marina - the girl who had it before me."

"Interesting,"

"When I asked him where the Autobots were, he told me they wouldn't be around much longer because he wanted to seek happiness or something along those lines."  
The Sgt. raised an eyebrow. He sighed and took one last drag from the cigarette before plucking it from his mouth and flicking it off somewhere. He exhaled, releasing yet another cloud of black smoke from his lungs. "I don't know if I should be telling you anything," He looked back at me with a stern look. "But you can't tell anyone else. Got it?"

"You have my word," I said with a nod.

"This entire event took the course in the span of maybe three days, give-or-take," He scratched his head. "This guy spent maybe a week on Earth before he flipped out and trashed the base. He took back his technology and later that night, he opened up the bridge - the space bridge."

"Right,"

"That's what they always tell you guys in the textbooks and all. What they don't tell you about, is a failed spacecraft launch."

"Spacecraft?"

"Yeah, Sentinel had demanded we ship the Autobots off the planet and send them off to bumblefuck-whereever while he carries out the invasion. So that maybe what he meant by them not being around any longer."

"How did it fail?"

"Well, you see, Sentinel really did not want them to come back. So what happened is what they call a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly.' In other words, the ship fucking exploded. It turns out it was destroyed by Decepticons on its way out of the atmosphere."

"How did they survive that?"

"Easy," The Sgt. chuckled. "They didn't even board the rocket."

"Ah,"

"Bad news was is that their ship was done for. They like to leave that bit out of history,"

"Why's that?"

"They wanted to convince the public that the Autobots refuse to leave, to drum up a public outcry,"

I didn't know what to say to that. That just isn't right. "I… I see,"

"On a brighter note, I spoke to the Col. and he said you could head out for whatever it was you were looking for,"

I nodded. "Great."

"You and I never had this conversation,"

"Right,"

At that, he walked away. I was left there alone to think about what I just learned. I was left with even more questions. Was Marina in on this plan or did Sentinel not tell her? Why did she never tell me any of these things? Me of all people could have understood, but maybe she was afraid I'd tell someone. It's upsetting to know she lived and died not being able to spill the beans to anybody. I guess I can say I know what that's like.

Despite how down I felt, I decided to find Lockdown and head into the city. Hopefully getting out would cheer me up, a bit. It was a close call back there, speaking with the Sgt. He didn't seem to suspect a thing when I told him it was Lockdown that told me about Marina's involvement with Sentinel. Is Ratchet still okay? When we head to the city, I decided I'd try and check on him.

Lockdown seemed weirdly quiet, today. Typically, he has nothing to say. Today, it seemed a little off. When I came to him and told him the Sgt. said we could leave for awhile, he just nodded and transformed. Then we were on our way. He may have still been in pain from last night and moody as a result, or at least that was my theory.

I looked out the window as we were crossing the bridge and heading into the city. I wanted to bring up the All-Spark shards we found, last night. Lockdown seems to not be in the mood for any chatter like I said before. Part of me wants to believe they had something to do with the dream, but the chances are, that isn't likely. I didn't have any direct contact with them or anything.

Grey clouds were sulking around overhead. My phone's battery died, earlier today, so I had no way of looking up the forecast, for now. I thought about getting a phone charger, but then I thought 'where am I going to plug it up in an alien spaceship?' Then again, while in Alaska, we're going to be at a base. A base that has electricity.

Lockdown pulled up to an outlet building and attempted to parallel park. A shitty attempt, at that. He finally managed to squeeze himself in between the two SUV's parked by the spot. I opened up the door and stood up before carefully closing the door behind me. People were staring, again. I awkwardly clutched my bag and shuffled up onto the sidewalk.

I turned back around to the vehicle. "I won't be long," I said before turning back to the stores in front of me.

I halted when a thought crossed my mind. 'These people just saw me speaking to my car.' If any of them saw, they probably thought I was a nutcase. Before I could do anything else stupid, I trotted off to find a craft store.

With all the shops scattered around here, I'm bound to find one, eventually. There seemed to be a lot fewer people here, today. The cold air was really starting to set in around this time. No one really wants to be out shopping in the cold, like this. Which is a good thing, it made navigation much easier. As an impulsive buyer, I did get distracted on occasion. I walked into clothing stores, shoe stores, and even a sweets shop, at one point. After all of that, I did eventually find my destination.  
As I walked along the sidewalk, I spotted a small craft shop way down the street. My face lit up, and I eagerly made my way up the road. I felt as giddy as a schoolgirl when I finally approached the shop and pulled open the door. I stepped inside. The walls were a pale yellow, almost like a buttercup. The floors were made up of ivory, polished tile. I picked up a shopping basket by the door before taking in everything. It smelled so nice in this store. It almost reminded me of my grandmother's house.

There were aisles stocked with paints, canvases, and brushes. Sewing needles, scissors, and pin cushions. In a large aisle were children's craft sets, packaged in bright colors, neatly lined up. The side of the store was lined with rolls of fabric in all kinds of colors housed in racks. Towards the very back of the store is where I found my domain. The yarn section.

The shelves up on the walls were packed with many different types, colors, and thicknesses of yarns. It was wonderful. I inspected each roll of yarn I picked up. I grazed my hands across them, testing for the softness. I also gave each roll a quick squeeze to test its firmness. Before long, I picked out just the right yarn. I decided on black for my shawl with white trimming. Something simple and easy on the eyes. It certainly wouldn't be as busy as the sweater I recently put together. I picked out a few other colors too, just in case I get inspired or wanna keep busy on the trip.

I hauled my treasures to the front counter and paid for them before exiting the shop. It was beginning to get dark. I can't believe I wasted this much time for a trip for yarn. A thought crept back into my head. I looked to the left. I looked to the right. Lockdown was nowhere to be found. I decided now would be the time to slip away and find Ratchet. I stopped and stared at the harbor in the distance for a moment. I tightened my grip on my bag of goods and took a deep breath before heading that way. In my head, I was praying Lockdown wasn't going to come looking for me, yet.

The wind was picking up, all of a sudden. The breeze made me shiver every time it blew by me. I let out a loud slight yelp when the wind nearly blew my skirt up. I didn't want everyone getting a view, so I stopped and held it down until the wind quit. To my luck, I didn't see many people around. That was a relief. A raised a brow when I caught a slight sound behind me. Off in the distance was a low rumble. A car engine.

I felt my stomach drop. He must have come looking for me. There may have been time to do something. I quickly ran around the corner of a building and took cover in an alleyway. Suddenly, the sound of the engine began to creep closer. 'emWhat if he did see me?'/em I thought. How do I explain that I was hiding from him? As the sound drew closer, I was hoping he didn't notice me, and he'd just keep going.

But then suddenly, I watched the hood of a sleek, silver car pull up at an almost crawling pace. I stood there, dumbfounded. I was being followed by a human. emWas I going to be kidnapped?

I watched as the car rounded the corner and pulled into the alleyway. My breathing was heavy. My eyes darted all around for an escape. Somewhere. Anywhere. What am I going to do? How am I going to save myself? /emI stood there, waiting for the stalker to emerge from the vehicle. It was a long and dragged out moment. The suspense was too much for me.

"W-Who are you?" I managed to choke out.

There was no reply. Instead, the car began to shift and change until it's new form was that of a slender, humanoid, robotic form. My jaw dropped. He had a sword mounted on each arm, and instead of feet, he had wheels on the ends of his ankles. His optics glimmered blue as he looked down at me.  
"I've been detecting an energy signal from you," He sounded calm and cool as he spoke to me.

I took a few steps back.

"Don't be afraid; I'm an Autobot."

I couldn't find any words to say.

"My readings have brought me to you. You have an All-Spark shard, correct?"

I swallowed hard before nodding. Once again, I pulled the necklace out of my collar and held up the jewel so he could see. He took one glance at before recognizing it.  
"Marina's necklace?"

"One of your friends told me you guys knew her,"

"Friend?"

"Yes, his name was Ratchet,"

He glanced at the road behind him. From what I could tell, the street was pretty empty. The night was becoming darker, and the crowds had cleared off, by now. The city lights were beginning to shine. It was only the two of us. The moment's silence was awkward.  
"Call me Vega," I tried breaking the ice.

He looked back down at me, not sure what to say, at first. "Sideswipe's the name,"

"So, you knew Marina?"

"All of us did," The bot practically fell the ground to sit, causing the pavement to shake.

"What happened to her?"

"Well, she went crazy and ran away with Sentinel," He shook his head. "Before that, it was funny; she was like a school guidance counselor for the team."

"What do you mean?"

"She was basically a middleman - or woman, I should say. If we had a problem, we'd tell her, and she'd tell the higher-ups. If they had a problem with us, they'd tell her, and she'd come to us."

"Like a messenger, almost?"

"Exactly. She was soft; she knew how to let us down easy. When someone would bug out and throw a fit over whatever, they'd send her in."  
"That sounds like her," I laughed slightly.

"I had a friend of mine; his name was Ironhide. He did that shit all the time. He didn't like Marina, though."

"How many of you are still around?"

"In this area?" He thought for a moment. "I think there's three of us. In total, there's maybe eleven of us scattered around."

"There's not a lot of you, is there?"

"Not at all. That bastard ruined everything,"

Why is it that when one person screws up, then everyone else has to suffer, too? Funny how that works. It's something I've never understood.

"Sentinel was not an easy one to break in," He began. "Your friend was assigned to him to teach him how to act here on Earth. She knew how to talk to us and stay on our good side. Her strategy was letting herself get walked all over, and it worked. We were willing to listen to her. Most of us, at least."  
That must have made her an ideal target.

"In fact, she was the one who talked us into getting that damn spaceship ready for launch. Man, we were pissed, that day." He chuckled slightly.

"What?"

"She didn't turn on everyone until Sentinel believed we were all dead. It shocked the hell out of all of them."

"So, she was in on the whole thing?"

"That's what I heard. She wasn't happy about it."

I felt like I wanted to cry. She left herself vulnerable, and she suffered as a result. I couldn't believe it. I can at least understand now why she didn't want to explain it all to me.

"I can't stay here," My gaze was fixated on the ground as I sunk deep into thought.

The bot looked puzzled.

"I need to go back, now,"

"Go where?"

I looked back up at the bot. "If you find Ratchet, let him know I was thinking of him,"

"Where is he?"

"He's hiding in a sea cave under the harbor," I sighed. "I came down here to see if he was okay."

Sideswipe said nothing.

"I don't want Lockdown after either of you."

Just as I suspected, hearing this shocked him. He optics widened, and he recoiled back. All I had to do was look at him, and I could tell what he was thinking.  
"emYou know him?"

"He picked me up one day, and we've been hunting Decepticons ever since. He wants you guys gone, too,"

"We've already lost a few to him,"

"You should probably get out of here. He can track down the necklace, too," Part of me wanted to bring up Dino. Something told me now's not a good time. "I won't ever tell him I saw you. I told this to Ratchet, too."

"Right," The bot said before he got to his feet - or wheels, rather. "Thank you for keeping my friend safe."

I stood back up as well. "Thank you for telling me about Marina,"

"She was quite an enigma, even to us, sometimes," He glanced to the road behind him, once more. "I'll see you around."

At that, he transformed back into his vehicular form. He backed out of the alley and sped off. I stood there for quite some time, reflecting. I hadn't realized several minutes had passed. When I snapped back to reality, I began making my way out of the alleyway.

I didn't even get halfway through when suddenly, I watched a black car violently pull up and hit the brakes hard. A loud 'screech' echoed around the buildings and the car quickly transformed into that of a robot form.

"Where the hell have you been?" The bot snapped.

You can guess who it was. It was Lockdown.

I babbled out a few sounds that almost resemble words, searching for an answer.

"We should have been back hours ago. Gunther has called me to bitch me out three times,/em now and-" He paused, suddenly. He stood up straight and turned around. He stood like that for a few seconds before turning back to me.

"What is it?"

"I thought was picking up an energy signal," He shook his head. "It's nothing. Let's head back; we have a lot to do, tomorrow."

"Shit," I uttered under my breath when a thought suddenly hit.

"What is it?"

"I forgot to pick up a phone charger."


	15. High Hopes

**AN: Would you look at that, a new chapter. _Woo-hoo_. Sorry for not updating, I had a family member pass and that's been hard to deal with. I was debating whether to continue this or not, but I see I've gotten a lot of new followers, here. I have everything drafted and all the chapters planned out, so it'd be kinda stupid to just stop after all that work. I haven't given up on this story yet, my friends.**

 **ALSO! This stupid-ass story FINALLY has cover art! It's long overdue, but it's finally here! I'm not too good at drawing the super detailed Bayformers, so I did some poking around, looked at some fanart and decided to go with this silhouette, lineless-type deal, here. There doesn't seem to be a way to post links, so if you wanted a good look, you're fucked.**

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Chapter 15:

I didn't rest much, last night. Lockdown, however, seemed to have no problem getting to sleep. After we arrived back to the ship and got settled in, he was out like a light, I tell you. I'm running on maybe three hours of sleep and a shitload of caffeine, today. I'm not particularly a coffee-drinker, but when we arrived at the airfield, I felt the need to guzzle a few cups. It was going to be a long day. Lockdown told me that the trip wasn't going to be long, much to my surprise. His ship does light-speed travel, but he didn't specify _how_ long it would take. I have no idea how fast light would travel from here to Alaska.

So far, the day has consisted of everyone getting ready and waiting it out for a trip that wouldn't take much time. This could take us minutes or even seconds, for all I know. Either way, it's not gonna make the day go by any quicker. It was cold, this morning. A little warmer than yesterday, around this time. As I did my usual wander around the airfield, I noticed the pavement was a bit soaked and I could smell the recent rainfall in the air.

The clouds from yesterday seemed to have mostly cleared. A few were left lingering, but other than that; it was a sunny day. Something about rain gives the air a specific scent, both before and after it happens. I can't exactly put my finger on what it smells like, but it's just so _refreshing_.

Right by the airstrip, I saw the Sgt., and he was busy working with a few men. There were boxes scattered around them and sadly, the Pvt. was there. He was holding a clipboard like always, and everyone seemed to be paying attention to him. For once, they seemed busy, so I decided not to bug them just this one time.

When I left to get cleaned up and have some breakfast, Lockdown was also by the airstrip. He must have left once all of those guys came by. Luckily a giant robot isn't hard to spot. Our favorite spot seems to be the hangar, as that's where I found him. He was having a chat with the Col. By their stoic expression, I could tell they must have been discussing something serious. I could see the Col. staring intently at the mech, nodding his head occasionally as he spoke. I couldn't quite make out what was being said. The two of them quickly turned to me once they noticed my presences.

When their cold eyes met with mine, I halted in my tracks. "Am- am I interrupting something important?" I spouted with a stutter

The Col.'s face expression grew normal. "Oh no, it's fine," He spoke in an assuring tone, "We were just about done, here."

I nodded and walked closer to the two.

The Col. turned and looked up at Lockdown and then back down to me. "The Sgt. took some guys to help get everything together," He pulled his cigar case from his pocket and opened it up. "It's going to be quiet without all of them around."

"I thought it was just him and the… the one guy,"

"The Pvt.?"

I nodded.

"They're bringing along a few others," He plucked a single cigar from his case and placed it in his mouth. "They're going to be keeping logs and writing up reports on your findings."

"So, the boring stuff?"

"Exactly."

I looked up at Lockdown, who was staring down at the Col. He didn't seem to notice me glancing at him.

"How come you guys got stuck dealing with this?" I asked, turning back to the Col.

The Col. whipped out a match before lighting the cigar. He took a quick drag before giving me a response. "Vega, take a look around," He said throwing his arms up. "Do you see anything around us? Have you ever seen _anyone else_ out here?"

I took a quick scan of the area outside of the airfield. He's right. It's pretty much barren.

"It's not like we're ever _doing_ anything here, either. Have you ever seen us busy with anything else?"

I guess that _does_ make sense.

"That's why we were chosen," He popped the cigar back into his mouth for another drag. "No one's going to come up here and find _him_." He motioned to Lockdown, who had nothing to add to the conversation.

The Col. looked down and kicked at the pavement, a little bit. After a moment, he finally turned his attention back to me.

"Vega, your legs are gonna be pretty damn cold, out there,"

I looked down. All of my skirts barely even reach my knees. Other than a thin pair of knee-high socks, I didn't have much protection from the cold. Skirts and knee-highs are my favorite thing to wear. I probably should have thought to pack pants for when the cold weather would hit before I ran off. _Stupid_.

"I wish the both of you best of luck on your mission."

Lockdown nodded in response, and I did as well. After bidding us farewell, he wandered off. Lockdown's gaze then fell on me.

I wasn't sure what to say to him. "How have you been?" _What a dumb question._

"Fine," He replied flatly.

"What did the Col. talk to you about?"

"Intell. He didn't want to share it with me yet, initially,"

"Why do you think that is?"

"He was told to keep his mouth shut, but I have my ways."

We were both silent for a moment. I looked up at the soft blue sky for a moment and enjoyed the slight breeze. Lockdown seems like he never cares about anything like this. It's sad he can't seem to enjoy simple things, like a nice day.

"Humans aren't hard to understand," He said, breaking the silence between us. He crossed his arms. "It's simple. I get inside their mind, and I make it my home. It's how I get them to do what I want."

"Really?"

"A lot of species like you work like this,"

"That's why you try to be nice to me, isn't it?"

He nodded. "You like to be praised,"

I scratched my head. He wasn't wrong.

"That's all it takes to keep you here." His optics met with my eyes, and I felt my heart skip. "I've always thought you were just… stupid. A genuine type of stupid, not an _evil_ type of stupid."

I blinked a few times upon hearing this. _How eerie, he'd say that_. It's almost like he can see right through people. Maybe with some sort of technology he has, he can read _thoughts_. For a moment it seemed plausible to me. I should face it, _he probably knows._ I just don't feel like I'm willing to say anything, yet. Wouldn't _you_ be reluctant to tell a giant space robot you have _Stockholm's_ for him?

"The Col. told me you almost had your necklace stolen,"

I tilted my head and looked up at him. Then it hit me. "Oh!" It was that guy that popped out of the closet at the hospital, awhile ago. "What about it?"

"The man was a Decepticon ally."

I gasped.

"He gave them a few names," The bot looked up and off into the distance. "They better pray we don't get our hands on them."

Considering his last encounter with a human, it's safe to say I was a little nervous about this. _Just what I needed._ Not only am I concerned about what's going to happen to these Autobots we're tracking, but I also need to be leery of him around humans. My mind was in many different places, throughout the day. So I decided I was going to do what any other person would do when they're feeling this way.

It was becoming evening and the sun was setting. The air was becoming chillier and the sky was draped in a warm glow as the sun began falling over the hemisphere. I went searching for the Sgt. He and his men seemed to have cleared out from their spot, earlier. By now, they were finished loading the dropship and Lockdown had left to get all of their equipment onto the Knightship. I asked around and the Sgt. was in his office. That's a first. I didn't even know he had an office. One of the men I asked was kind enough to direct me to the building his office was located in.

I knocked on the door a few times before entering. His office was tiny and a little cluttered. There were shelves packed with books and binders full of documents. There was a small TV on a file cabinet beside him, and a small lamp at the corner of his desk along with a coffee mug full of pens. He was surprised to see me when I popped in.

"Vega, what are you doing here?" I noticed a few papers scattered in front of him and a pen between his fingers. "I would have thought you went with Lockdown."

"Ah, he told me he'd only be a minute…" I said trailing off a bit.

"So what did you need?"

"I uh," My eyes shifted away for a moment. "Do you got any… alcohol, by any chance?"

The Sgt. looked puzzled for a moment, and then he laughed. He turned around and rummaged through a few things before pulling up a big bottle of _vodka_. It was about half full.

"I've needed it too, lately," He said, chuckling. He held the bottle out for me to take, but before I could even get my hands around it, he pulled it back.

"How old are you, again?"

I was silent for a moment. " _Nineteen_ ," His eyes narrowed, and they stayed that way as he nodded. He held the bottle out to me, again. This time, he let me take it.

"I better get it back."

And with that, I was on my way. I sat down by the hangar, _my favorite spot_. By now, it was almost night and the airstrip was already lite up. I uncapped the vodka and took a good swig. I grimaced slightly at the sting of the beverage. It felt like chugging gasoline. I'm not much of drinker. Can't say I've ever tried vodka, before this. It was alright, I kind of liked the sting of it.

I dug my blanket out of my bag and laid it on my lap. I could feel the cold slowly melting away from my bare legs. There's not a feeling better than getting out of the cold. Feeling the warmth set in and comfort you. I quickly began to feel the effects of the vodka. I took another drink for good measures.

I sat there for awhile looking at the stars and shit. It was nice. I couldn't seem to make out any constellations. I'd pick out a star and try to connect something and then just… blah. After some time, I heard an incoming steady rumble. _I recognize those tremors anywhere._ It was Lockdown headed toward me. He must have been back from taking things to the Knightship.

" _Hi_ ," I said stupidly as I took another drink.

Lockdown stared at me blankly, for a moment. I think he knew something was up. But he shrugged it off. "Where's Gunther?"

"Oh uh," I quickly turned around toward where the office is. "He's in that building."

Lockdown's 'brow' raise. "Are you feeling alright?"

I nodded. "Lockdown, I'm gonna let you in on a secret," I raised the bottle to my lips. "I'm gonna be drunk off my ass for a while, I'm just dealing with a few things is all."

He shook his head. He doesn't get me.

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, we heard a man speak up. "Why do you two always end up here?" We both turned to the source. It was the Sgt.

"Why don't you ask Vega," Lockdown replied snarkily. "I found her here."

The Sgt. took one look at me. "I knew this was gonna happen,"

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's _drunk_ ," He snatched the vodka bottle from my hands.

"Hey!" I quickly scampered to my feet. That's when it hit me all at once. The world began spinning in circles and stumbled backward. I tripped and landed on a rough, uneven surface. I think I may have _broken_ my tailbone. I looked up to see Lockdown staring down at me with a stone-cold face. It was his foot I fell on.

"Is she going to be ok?"

"She'll be fine, she just needs to rest," The Sgt. grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me back up to my feet. I stumbled around a little bit, trying to gain some balance. "We should get her to the ship."

Only thing I can remember was being practically dragged to the dropship. Before I knew it, the three of us were on the part of the ship I had never seen. I was sitting down with my legs sprawled out, looking up at the sky, again.

"Where are we?" I slurred.

"Vega, this is the landing bay," I heard Lockdown say. I turned, and he was standing on a platform looking at something below him. "I _already_ told you this."

"Vega, come on," The Sgt. sighed. I turned, and he was standing in front of me. "Get off the ground!"

I turned back to Lockdown as if the Sgt. hadn't even said anything. "Hey, uh,"

He didn't hear me. After a few seconds, he finally looked at me.

"What?"

"Where does bad light go?" I felt a stupid grin stretch across my face.

"... _What_?"

"Where does bad light go?"

His optics narrowed. "Where?"

"It goes to _Prism_ ,"

"Don't talk to me."

I turned to the Sgt. who was laughing hysterically. In the midst of it, I could make out the words ' _Goddammit, Vega!'_ I found myself laughing too. I turned around to Lockdown who just shook his head.

I watched as he walked to the edge of the platform. He took a step down onto the deck before rolling his ankle, and a loud ' _thud'_ rang out once he hit the metal floor. He groaned in pain, and I jumped up to try and run to his aid. Before I could even finish a step, I too, fell and hit the floor.


	16. Goodbye Blue Sky

AN: Jesus fuckin' Christ, I've been waiting all day to update this bitch. The servers were down as fuck, but they're back. Truly we are blessed.

* * *

Chapter 16:

" _I think she may be coming around,_ " I heard a muffled, grainy voice speak.

" _It's about time,_ " Another one said. I could start to make out something. Two figures were looming over me, one very large and the other quite small in comparison. I couldn't seem to make heads or tails of what these things could even be. They were speaking to me.

" _Vega?_ "

I was too zoned out to reply.

"Vega!"

I twitched, and suddenly everything was normal, again. I could see clearly. It was the Sgt. and Lockdown. I sighed in relief. As I sat up, my memory came flooding back. I must have blacked out. I took a quick glance around. We were in the cockpit by the large window. I turned to the Sgt. and noticed he had a glass bottle in his hand.

I suddenly felt a piercing pain through my skull and I quickly gripped my head. It began throbbing and I groaned until it began to dull.

"By the looks of it, you hardly had a few sips out of this thing," The Sgt. said as he held the bottle up to look at it. "You're such a lightweight, Vega."

I looked up at Lockdown. _Pure aggravation_. I could see it in his face. He didn't have anything to add to the conversation. I couldn't tell if he was mad at me or maybe the Sgt. did something to him.

I weakly turned to the window. I felt myself freeze up at the sight. The world below us was blanketed in pure white that shimmered beneath the navy sky of the night. The horizon was blocked by the jagged outlines of mountains, in the distance. _Did we have snowfall last night? No, we didn't._ I remembered what the whole day was stacking up to. We must be in Alaska, now.

I quickly turned to look at the two. They seemed to both already know what I was thinking.

"While you were blacked out drunk, we picked up the rest of the boys and got going," The Sgt. said.

I rubbed my eyes, feeling a little groggy. "When did we leave?"

"It was daylight when we left," Lockdown added. He stepped up onto the platform and took a seat on his throne. He pulled up his screen and began tapping away at it, as usual. I must have been out for awhile, then.

"You were quite a handful, last night," The Sgt. said with a cackle. I felt a slight dread. That could mean a lot of things. Surely I wasn't _that_ bad, was I?

"First off, you slapped me when I tried to get you off the ground, at the landing bay"

"And you then you… started leaking, again," Lockdown added. " _Crying_ is what Gunther called it."

"Why did I cry?"

"You thought I didn't like you," He sounded unimpressed.

I scratched my head and let the Sgt. continue.

"You threw your bag and tried to play fetch with those dog things-"

"Those ' _dog things'_ are my pets, you _bitch_ ,"

I watched as the Sgt. whipped around and gave Lockdown an offended look. _Here we go again._

"You know, they wanted to eat me!"

"They weren't going to eat you," I could hear the aggravation boiling up in the mech's voice. "They tried to attack you because they just don't _know_ you."

That's when I noticed the two dogs were nowhere to be found. He must have had to leave them somewhere else. It was kind of a shame. I guess Lockdown didn't want them tearing anyone apart. I brought my attention back to the two and interrupted their bickering with a question.

"Wasn't there a base we were supposed to be at?"

Two fell silent.

"Right," The Sgt. was trying to keep his cool. "I should go get my men." With that, he exited the cockpit and ventured out into the dimly lit corridors. When he vanished into the distance, Lockdown didn't hesitate to take that moment to throw some shade his way.

"I don't know why he's leaving, we haven't been cleared for landing, yet,"

I snickered. "Do you want me to go get him?"

" _No._ "

Plain and simple, I guess. I noticed there was a massive drop in temperature on the ship. I know this place wouldn't have a reason heated, but this is a _little_ ridiculous. I sat there by the window, huddling up to my bag and shivering. I wasn't smart enough to pack anything suitable for cold weather, and I guess I'm paying for it, now. If everything went as planned, I would have just been checking into hotels, back home. Maybe I wouldn't really have needed anything heavy for the winter. It's _obvious_ by now that being abducted by an alien robot wasn't exactly in those plans. _If I knew any of this, I would have packed a jacket or two._

About half an hour had passed. I was beginning to adjust to the cold air. The cockpit was silent, which felt really strange. I can't put my finger on why, though. It just didn't _feel_ right. It doesn't seem the Sgt. was coming back. With aliens creatures that could be lurking, I was beginning to get a little worried about the guy. Sure, they may have been caged up, but they _could_ escape.

"Where did the Sgt. even go?"

Lockdown gave me a peculiar look.

"It's been awhile and he still isn't back,"

"It's straight shot toward the back of the ship, he couldn't have gotten lost,"

"Do you think he had a run-in with your crew?"

"It's possible," He shoved away his screen. "Or he's _dead_."

That took a dark turn.

"Should I look for him?"

"Typically, it's not within my interest to care, but don't want to be held responsible for this."

I took that as a yes and I was on my way. I wasn't entirely sure where I was headed. Apparently, it's just a straight shot. I guess I'll know when I get there. I'm curious to see where he's keeping these men. _I'm just hoping he didn't cage them up, too._ Once again, I found myself staring in wonder at the strange architecture. It amuses me, every time.

I was met with the entrance to an enormous chamber. Almost like the holding area I was in, there was a seemingly bottomless pit, in the room. Four catwalks stretched across the hole that met at a giant platform in the center. The area's cool, dim lighting felt familiar. Getting through here would have been an easy feat. _If it weren't for all these bots walking around._ This must have been some sort of hub, it seems. They were coming from all different directions, passing one another and crossing the catwalks.

Suddenly, I heard a loud ' _bang'_ just to my side. To my shock, a bot had planted its massive foot only inches away from me before continuing its way across the bridge. He - or she, didn't seem to notice me. This was both a good _and_ bad thing. I could imagine these guys aren't typically looking for tiny organic life scampering around. This means I could slip in and out of here without even being spotted, for the most part. _Or I could be stepped on._

Faster than you could say 'shallow grave,' I began to cross the catwalk. I was careful to dodge the incoming feet of any bot passing by. This part was easy. What wasn't, was navigating once I ended up on the middle platform. It was crowded with bots of all shapes and sizes trying to push their way through each other. This was definitely a hazard for a tiny human like me. I could use my size as an advantage, luckily. I stealthily weaved and slipped my way through as best as I could. Each foot that land only mere inches away from me would cause a moment of panic, every time.

I managed to get through. I was in the home-stretch to the second bridge when I noticed everything around me become… darker. I turned around to see I was standing in the shadow of a bot who had caught up to me and stopped. Its optics were an emerald green, almost like Lockdown's. It stared down at me. I stared up at it. Its glare almost reminded me of the same one Lockdown would give me. This bot reminded me so much of him, but at the same time, looked _nothing_ like him. Slowly, I backed off before taking off running across the catwalk. I glanced behind to see the bot just watching. He didn't seem to be chasing me or anything. Finally, I exited the area, and I ended up in yet another corridor.

There didn't seem to be bots or anything, here. It was oddly silent. Well, other than the sounds of the motors running and other mechanisms working. I stopped and watched a purple, hazy light flicker in the distance ahead of me. I noticed a bit of steam rising in the air. Suddenly, I began to hear something.

Something more than just the engines. It wasn't mechanical. Somebody was crying out. I gasped and sprinted in the direction where the noise was coming from. I entered yet another chamber. There the Sgt. was. He was on the ground and clearly in pain. The fog was too thick; I couldn't tell what was wrong with him, at first. As I ran to his aid, slowly I could make out that something had attached itself to the poor man's leg.

"Sgt.!" I called to him. He looked up and shouted back my name in response. When I reached him, I could see that it was very vine-like. It must have been some sort of parasite. It started from his ankle and reached past his knee. I knelt down to get a better look. "What _is_ this?"

"Vega, we need to go!" He was struggling to get a grip on the thing. "We need to go before that creature comes back!"

" _Creature_?!" I quickly began to scan the room. This area was a smaller chamber. The platform we were on was like a grid, and I could see yet another pit below it. There were no catwalks in this room, just the doorway into the next corridor. I looked all around, but there was no creature of any sort. The purple haze was looming by the ceiling and dispersing around. I could exactly tell where it was coming from, now. It was spewing from a pipe, up there.

"Do you have a knife or something sharp?

I threw my bag from off my shoulder and onto the ground. "I have a gun, do you want me to shoot it off?"

"No!"

And then I thought, _What a horrible suggestion._ That wouldn't end well. I opened the bag and began digging around. I figured there had to be something in here. There was nothing sharp I could find. _Nothing but that stupid cactus._ It was our only option. I wish I could describe the look on the Sgt.'s face when I whipped out the plant.

"Are you _retarded_?"

I didn't have time to protest. I put my plan into action and quickly began rubbing the spiny succulent on the flesh of the critter. It began to writhe and whimper as I did this. _I can't fucking believe this._

Out of nowhere came a loud, ear piercing shriek. The both of us nearly jumped fifty-feet, and we looked up to find the source. Clinging to the ceiling was the saddest-looking creature I had _ever_ seen. It was some sort of mechanical life, and it was covered in robotic parts that it had to have salvaged. I could see that it had at least four arms. They ranged from different sizes, colors, and builds. One of them was a massive claw, even. It clearly didn't come with these parts.

All of its parts looked rugged and abused. Broken and tattered. But no part of it compared to its head. It seemed to have a cannon-wound on the side of its face. The area around where a shot must have hit it was blackened and broken. I could see what looked like bits of hair that were singed at the ends. Maybe it was some sort of cables hanging out of its head. Its jaw was hanging on by just a hinge, and its optics were cobalt and were just _barely_ working. They flickered and sparked _like crazy_. What was left of its face was oddly humanoid-looking. It was unsettling to look at, to say the least.

This thing looked like it shouldn't even be alive. I turned my attention back to the alien wrapped around the Sgt.'s leg. I aggressively and rapidly rubbed the spines of the cactus against it as he pleaded for me to hurry up. It seemed to be working. That was until we found ourself startled yet again. This time by a voice. A familiar voice, lucky for us.

"What kind of _fuckary_ is this?" It was none other than Lockdown, watching me assault an alien parasite _with a cactus_. By the look on his face, I could tell how he felt about this situation. We didn't have time to explain. At that instant, the two of us began babbling about the unholy abomination that was clinging to the ceiling.

He caught on and looked up and seemed puzzled. The two of us looked up. It was _gone_.


	17. Allons-y

Chapter 17:

"It's a good thing you came here in time," I sighed.

"It wasn't going to hurt you," Lockdown stated. He plucked the Sgt. off the floor and effortlessly tugged the little critter off his leg. He tossed it aside before putting his foot out and squashing the little bugger.

"It scared the hell out of us!" The Sgt. snapped.

"It likes to build itself up with objects lying around," He placed the Sgt. back onto the floor. "It saw you had nothing for it and it left."

The Sgt. mumbled something. I couldn't quite hear it, but he sounded irritated.

"I just got a transmission clearing us for landing. We can only bring the dropship," He snatched me up in his hand. The Sgt. stumbled back at the sudden motion. "Hurry up; we'll be waiting."

The Sgt. nodded and took off running down the corridor. I slumped over and sighed.

"Can't I go with him?"

" _No._ "

He brought me to the dropship and shortly after, we were joined by the Sgt. and his guys. A few of them were carrying boxes and crates, presumably with their equipment inside. When we landed, we came to find this was a pretty small base. No wonder I didn't see it from the cockpit. We hopped out, and I looked up to find the main ship was larger than this entire base. In the daylight, it would've been casting a huge shadow, I could imagine.

Trudging through the snow in my boots was a little difficult. They're more for looks more than anything. Certainly not useful for the snow. The wind was picking up, and I began to shiver violently. Before long, we were met with a massive, metal gate surrounding a few buildings. The entrance opened, and there stood a few men.

They pulled the Sgt. aside and spoke to him in private. Occasionally, they'd give me strange glances. I was the only human here that wasn't in uniform. I nervously shifted and avoided eye contact with them. I can't stay anything interesting happened here. None of it really involved me. To my left of me, I noticed the Pvt. kind of standing there. _Aimlessly._ He had a blank look on his face. I tried to wave to him, but he didn't seem to notice me. Or anyone else, as a matter of fact. It was like he was in his own little world.

After a short while, they finally let us in. They seemed leery of Lockdown, but I can't say I blame them. The base was comprised of only three buildings and of course the steel gates around it all. We were lead into the largest one and let inside through a giant door that came apart in the center and slid open. Lockdown wasn't left out; it was large enough for him to come through. Something about this place reminded me of a factory. The walls were all chrome, and the floors were grey tile. The fluorescent lights shining down from bulb sockets lining the perimeter of the room gave an almost ambient lighting.

It was nice and warm in here. It was a nice juxtaposition from the sheer cold, just moments ago. A few meters away, there was a giant computer screen on the wall in front of us. There were several smaller ones around the room, all displaying different things. There were only a few people in here, and they were all occupied, working with the smaller monitors.

The giant screen was displaying a map. It was covered in red dots. This must have been the same map of the area that Lockdown's acquaintance showed us, a few days ago. _I just couldn't remember his name off the top of my head._ A man standing in front of it turned around and took a look at the bunch of us. He glossed over each and everyone one of them, except for me. I don't think he noticed me in this sea of tall men.

"All of you, please take a step this way," He held up his right arm. "Our men you'll be working with will brief you and get your equipment set up."

The men all began to shuffle around and walk off with their crates. I felt a rough hand grip my shoulder. I looked up to see it was the Sgt. He gave me a short nod before walking off. The man was looking up at Lockdown, now.

"We have a few things to discuss," He said, trailing off a bit. His eyes began to wander until they met with mine. He stared at me. I stared at him. Finally, he spoke. " _Who is this_?"

"I, uh," I began searching for the words to say.

"She works with me," Lockdown saved me, there. "She has the All-Spark shard."

" _Does_ she?" The man didn't seem to be buying it.

I sheepishly unlatched my necklace and held it out to him. "It's inside of the jewel," I pointed out. He glanced at me with a suspicious look before observing the gemstone. "I lure them with it, and he takes care of it from there."

"Where did this come from?"

I fastened it around my neck, once more. "A friend of mine let me have it,"

"And it just so happened to have a piece of the All-Spark in it?"

I nodded. I'm surprised no one _ever_ recognizes this necklace. It belonged to someone who had such a big part in such a world-shaking event. You'd think people would be on the hunt for the thing. It's like something that would belong in a museum.

He swiftly spun on his heels and turned around to see the screen. "And that's your plan to capture them?' A sudden tension was building. The two of us were silent. "If you think that this will be easy," The man turned back to us. "You're probably right."

The tension broke at that instant. I felt the knot in my stomach relax.

"On the screen here," He began "Are the last known locations of the rogue Autobots." He looked back at the screen. "Spottings are not uncommon, but they've proven to be near-impossible for _us_ to catch. So, that's where you come in."

The man stepped toward the control panel beneath the screen. With a swift and firm push of a key, some images suddenly popped up onto the screen. "We've heard about your work and your motives. You're quite decent, we hear,"

A good bulk of them were grainy, shitty phone camera shots. They were probably taken by civilians who happened to catch sight of the bots. It reminded me of those questionable photos you'd see of bigfoot or body-snatchers or something. Those photos where whoever spotted the thing in question decided to find a camera with the _worst possible quality_. I found it funny they made me think of that.

They consisted of the bots appearing to be just standing around or walking. They didn't seem to be causing havoc, or anything. The images that stood out, however, were the clear and professional-looking portrait style photos. I could imagine they were taken when they first joined their unit on Earth. Before everyone turned on them. There were also clear shots of the vehicle forms. The best way to describe them would be a race car, but _more_. They were all _covered_ with guns, and they were made up of sharper shapes. A race car with an upgrade, if that makes sense.

"With a little help from our crew, they'll be in your clutches, I have no doubt in my mind," The man then raised his arm and pointed to the blue one.

In the grainy shots, he seemed to be taller than the others and of a much thinner build. He had two slender cannons mounted to his shoulders.

"This one is the least aggressive," He began. "However, he's very smart, and he has a massive arsenal of weapons."

He moved onto the green one, next. He was of a more average build. Like the blue bot, he had two cannons on his shoulders, but they were far larger. They may have been rocket launchers, actually.

"This guy can get _very_ aggressive. Sources had informed us that he was an armor specialist when the N.E.S.T unit was in operation. He's capable of fixing himself and the others after taking any damage,"

He finally spoke about the red one. This one was… tubby-looking, to put it in the nicest way. "And this one is 'the boss,'" He said. "He isn't very bright, however. We had him captured one time, but the other two came for him. He's quite a loud-mouth. The three of them are… _rambunctious_ to say the least. They'll insult you quite a bit, once you have them."

I cackled slightly. They both shot me sour looks.

"These three are known for mischief. While there has been no reported injuries or deaths, they like to frighten civilians. They're especially known to steal car parts," Something about that seems wrong. Other than the obvious _stealing_ part. "Tires, radiators, engines. Scrap metal, especially. However, there hasn't been any recent sightings, lately," The man began to pace back and forth. "We need you to search for signs or lure them out of hiding." He stopped and looked up at Lockdown. "If you bring them back alive, you know what's in it for you."

He nodded.

"And you," The man pointed at me. "You're going to freeze, out there. You better get something else on."

"She _has_ nothing else," Lockdown said dryly. I glanced away, feeling a little embarrassed. "Ambrose said I had to bring everyone back alive. Find something for her,"

"What do you mean ' _find something'_?"

"If she freezes, she _dies_ , so she needs something to keep her from doing that,"

"He's… wondering if you have extra gear I could use," I chimed in.

His eyes narrowed, and he looked me up and down. Maybe he was guessing what size I wear. "I'll see what I can do," And with that, he walked off.

I wanted to say something to Lockdown. Before I could get any words out, he beat me to the punch.

"Why does your kind die in the cold?" He spoke. "Is there any evolutionary benefit to that?"

"Why are you asking _me_?"

He shook his head and looked away.

I decided to change the subject. "It's weird to think that it's daylight back home," I scratched my chin. "Do you know what time it is, here?"

"Approximately five in the morning. It would be around nine, at the airfield,"

"So we're about four hours behind?"

"Correct."

We didn't say anything else, after that. I was really liking the lighting, here. It seemed calm and went well with the mood of the place. The man came back a few minutes later. He threw a parka at me. I scrambled to try and catch it. It was a maroon color, and brown fur with streaks of black and white lined the hood. It looked like it'd reach knee-length on me. At least part of me would be warm.

"Thank you," I said as I unbuttoned it and put my arms through the sleeves.

"Start your search in the forested areas," He said to Lockdown. He didn't acknowledge I spoke, even. "They tend to hide in caves, and there's quite a few of those around, you'll find."

The mech nodded.

"When you decided you're done, just go back to your ship and send a transmission," He looked around a bit. "We're about to set up Sgt. Gunther's equipment. We won't have space for you to be running in and out of here."

"Right,"

He then led us back to the big doors and skillfully punched a few numbers into a keypad next to it. The entrance once again opened up with a loud ' _whir'_ as the motors kicked in. We were sent on our way and back out into the cold. As we stepped out, I saw the front gates were still open. Lockdown began to walk away, but I was still trying to zip this stupid jacket. The zipper was a little broken and being a bitch to zip up. It also had a strip of material with buttons to snap on over it, too.

I bet I looked stupid scurrying toward the bot while struggling to hold the parka closed.

" _Search around the woods'_ seems like a kind of vague plan," I finally managed to get the zipper to work, once I caught up with him and slowed down.

"Tell me about it…"

I began snapping the buttons together. "It's going to be weird waking up to darkness, every morning,"

"I'm used to it,"

"Huh?"

He glared at me. He hasn't done it in awhile. "I travel in space; it's always dark,"

 _Oh, that's right._ My heels were sinking into the snow with every step I took. My hands were already getting cold. I stuffed them into the pockets of the jacket, hoping to keep them a little warm.

"Why don't we just take the dropship?"

"It's far too obvious,"

"Isn't a giant spaceship floating overhead obvious, too?"

He turned and glared at me, again. "Yes, but our goal isn't to capture them, just yet." He looked back to see what was in front of him. "If they're anywhere nearby, they most likely saw the ship and fled. But that doesn't prevent us from picking up signs that will help us further detect a pattern so we can close in on them."

I nodded my head, pretending to fully comprehend the plan, here. It seems he was already thinking ahead. It's good that he's been doing that because _I certainly haven't been_.

"So why can't we take the dropship?"

"If they see the dropship, they may think they're being pursued, and they may try to throw us off course."

"Makes sense to me,"

"Using the recent sightings and any clues we find out here, finding their next location shouldn't be hard,"

I nodded a couple of times, again. I'm still not sure what to think of these bots we have our sights on. They don't seem to be _really_ harming anyone, but then again, they're loaded with deadly weapons. On top of that, they've been stealing stuff and messing with people. What could they be doing with _car parts_? Perhaps building weapons? Maybe the green bot uses them to repair his friends. Only time can tell, now.


	18. Interstellar Overdrive

**AN: The entire last part of this chapter disappeared, and I have no fucking clue why. It's back, now. Sorry about that, I had no idea this happened.**

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Chapter 18:

The night was bitter and cold. I think it's gonna snow, soon. My upper body was protected, but I could still feel the frosty air stinging my legs. It was dark. _Very_ dark. There didn't seem to be anything else but the base nearby. No towns or villages. It felt strange. I came from an area that was heavily populated. Stores, homes, and towns stretched out for miles and miles, back there. The moon was gone. Well, not really. It's a New Moon, is all. The stars were shining incredibly bright. There was so many visible. Unfortunately, it was getting cloudier and cloudier. They were starting to get blocked out. I could feel the wind picking up. Clearly, a storm was brewing.

Lockdown must have known something was up, too. I'm not sure what it was I tripped on, but I found myself losing my footing. He turned and looked down at me, during this. He watched me stumble and fall like an idiot. Faster than you could say ' _below zero,'_ I squeaked and jumped up, once my legs hit the snow. It felt like having icicles jammed into my flesh.

He stopped walking. "What is it, _now_?"

"N-nothing," I brushed the snow off my lap.

"Nice going."

We continued on our way. I was now twice as cold as before. We were headed into a forest area like the guy back at the base told us to do. I still don't know his name or who he is, even. Maybe he's a Col. at this base. I wanted to ask Lockdown, but he probably knows just as much as I do about this guy. He hasn't told me anything about speaking to him in the past or anything. Then again, there's _a lot_ of things he doesn't tell me. I could just talk to him myself, next time we're at the base. I'm not too good at meeting new people I have nothing in common with, though.

It began snowing, suddenly. In only minutes, the wind was whipping up harder, and the snow was really coming down, now. I hate the cold. I hate it _so_ much. I can't stand forty-degree weather much less anything below zero. When the wind would blow past me, I'd pull my arms closer to my chest, desperate to keep warm. Suddenly a memory from when I was a kid began playing out in my head. I thought back to the time I went skiing with some friends. Now, these weren't your average everyday friends. These weren't your friends that were dependable and loyal. Hell, these weren't your friends that were even _nice_ to you. These friends were purebred assholes.

It was a cold-ass day in the mountains, that morning. I had never skied in my life. I'm not sure why I went, I knew already knew the day was going to be a disaster. The moment I strapped on my skis, I felt the bad karma in my bones. And I was right. They pushed me down the slope, and I was gone. The second I vanished into the woods, I heard their giggles stop once they realized I might be in trouble. I was knocked out, for a while. I woke up in the middle of _fuck-all nowhere_ and wandered off. Instead of telling the one chick's dad, they went looking for me, themselves.

They did find me. I did wander back to the lodge, eventually. There they all were, gathered around a table by the fireplace having some hot-coco. Meanwhile, I was out lost and freezing my ass off. And they _still_ didn't tell the one girl's dad what really happened. What if I _died_? They probably lied to him if he even noticed I was gone. This place didn't bring up a very good memory. I hated those kids. I'll never understand why I hung out with them for so long. Well, we didn't hang out. They invited me over and just walked all over me for a few hours until I'd go home. But, I digress.

Maybe that's the reason why I grew up to hate the cold, so much. The snow was making it hard to see, now. I squinted my eyes a bit, trying to focus a little better. It didn't help that it was blowing directly at us. Lockdown didn't seem to care. I really didn't want to walk, but I was too afraid to ask to be carried. Chances are he'd tell me to suck it up, anyway. I was growing tired, and we weren't really doing _anything_. I began to feel irritable. I wasn't sure why.

Lockdown suddenly halted and startled me.

"What?!" I snapped. A quick glare from the mech put me back in my place.

He pointed at the ground. "Tire tracks," He pulled his visor down and knelt to get a better look at them.

I came in closer and to get a better look, as well. Something wasn't right. These looked like they came from snow tires. "Lockdown, this couldn't have been any of them,"

He said nothing.

"Race cars tires don't have treads like this,"

"Look closer," His voice was a little muffled and hollow from beneath the visor. "An average street tire has a tread width of nine-inches. Does that look like nine-inches to you?"

I looked at them again. He was right. These tracks were much wider.

"My scan report states that a tire with an _eleven-point-five inch_ tread width is the likely cause of these tracks," He brought his visor back up. "And that happens to be the exact tread width of a race car tire." He then stood up. I guess that settles it. I could tell he was feeling proud of his detective work, here.

"How in the hell did they get snow tires like this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine,"

The strangest thing happened, at the moment. For some reason, the moment he killed that man played through my head. I winced a little and tried to put the thought out of my mind. "Which way do you think they went?"

He looked to the left. He looked to the right. He looked back down at the tracks then back to me. "We'll find out," He swiftly turned and began to walk in a direction alongside the tracks.

I chased after him. "All of that technology and you can't tell for sure?"

He didn't say anything. I caught up to him pretty quickly, for once. I had a strange feeling we were moving _backward_. You'd think these bots would be moving away from the ship, not towards it. Any bot in their right mind would. Who would want to come face-to-face with this guy? It's doesn't matter how far they run or how hard they fight, he _always_ seems to find a way.

"What made you come to Earth, even?"

"Haven't we been over this?" He said. "My goal is to capture Prime."

" _I know that,_ " I sighed. "But, who sent you?"

He shot me a suspicious look. "Don't worry about it,"

"Quit telling me that!"

"You _don't_ need to know about them," I could tell he was getting aggravated with me. "I was tasked with capturing the rogue Knights. It's taken me centuries and the very last of them has led me here."

"Knights?"

"Yes, the ship belonged to them once,"

I halted in my tracks " _Oh_!" The sudden shout from me made him jump, slightly. "That's why it's called the Knightship!"

He stopped to glare at me. A glimmer in his optics told me he has given up all hope on me.

We trudged along some more. As the snow fell, the tracks became more and more faint the farther we trekked on. There didn't seem to be any signs of tracks leading to anything, really. I wanted to stop. My feet started to hurt, my face was freezing, and my hands were cold. We were heading into a mountain range. Off to my left, I could spot what appeared to be a cave. I glanced up at the bot. He only seemed focused on what was in front of him.

"Can we rest?" When he turned to look at me, I pointed to that cave.

"We don't have time for that,"

"I'm _freezing_ cold,"

"That's not my problem."

I sighed deeply. I really didn't want to go on. "I can die from exhaustion, you know..."

He didn't say anything.

"The Col. wouldn't be happy to find out that you let me die..."

He stopped. "I could kill you right now, and it would look like an accident,"

"The Col. would be pissed either way."

He growled and shook his head. I leaped back and shielded my face when he made a sudden motion. I honestly thought for a second he was going to do it. It turns out, he was just picking me up. He begrudgingly stomped through the snow and took me to the cave. I guess he knew I was right.

He crouched down and dropped me. "We're not staying here for long," He snapped.

I looked around. It was dark, and the floor felt like sitting on a block of ice. I shifted around a bit; it was just so _uncomfortable_ to be touching. The walls were a rugged and grey stone. I'm no connoisseur of stone, so it's not like I can tell you what kind. It's not like you _asked_ , or anything. Igneous, maybe? _That can't be right._ Metamorphic sounds more likely.

After my train of thought, I realized I was staring blankly and intensely at a wall to my right. I quickly turned to Lockdown, who looked _fucking_ _befuddled_. I didn't say anything; I just looked away. Suddenly, another memory came flooding to me. A memory of spending a day at the beach. I could almost feel the hot sun on my skin. I could see the clear day skies over the sea. I could even see planes with advertising banners fluttering behind them. Umbrellas were propped up and stand up in the sand all around.

A happy memory that made me a little sad, actually. I wish I could be there, rather than here in the cold. We've only been here for a few hours, and I was already miserable. A blizzard seemed to be brewing. I thought the cold could get bad back home, but this is getting a little out-of-hand.

"Is there something wrong?"

My gaze didn't shift from my lap. "I miss my home, is all,"

"I understand," I glanced up and noticed he was looking up and down my body. Almost like when you first meet a person.

"You know what my days used to be like? I had a pretty good life," I began. "I had a home. I had a job. I could create any piece of work I'd put my mind to."

"Were you an artist?"

I looked up at him. He was now leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "Yeah, I was," It was weird seeing the bot take an interest in me. Even if it was just a little.

"We didn't have a lot of those where I come from," He looked away. "Their work was much different than anything humans create."

"Really?"

"Murals. Engraving. Statues. Things like that,"

"That seems a little limited,"

"It's true. You wouldn't believe the things I've seen on other worlds, however."

Out of nowhere, I felt a surge of panic, suddenly. Out of reflex, I quickly grasped for the chain of my necklace. It was there, still. I felt silly. It's not like it could have gone _anywhere_.

"Who was this person you got the necklace from?"

"She was a friend of mine-"

" _I know that_ ,"

"Right…" I held the jewel out in front of me. "She worked with Sentinel Prime-"

Suddenly, the world around me stopped. I felt a shock through my body, and my heart turned to stone and sank like a rock on the water. That one little slip could have just cost me everything. I began shivering. I slowly turned to him with my mouth agape. It couldn't be more obvious that I have fucked up.

"Was that something I wasn't supposed to know?" He asked.

This was it. My one moment to save myself and the two bots who talked to me. "S-she… told me never to tell anyone." I blurted.

"I could imagine why,"

I felt the tension melt away. I felt myself become less and less anxious. "I first met her on a forum, and I found out she lived near me. When she trusted me enough, she told me the truth," That was a lie. All along, I've apparently known nothing about her past.

"Sentinel Prime, that fool… he's one less Knight to haul off," His optics began to wander around the cavern. "They never bothered to tell me the full story."

"Well, the Sgt. told me he had Decepticons blow up their ship. That's why they can't leave the planet,"

His gaze quickly snapped back to me, and a look of malice and disgust crossed his face. It didn't seem to be aimed at me, I think.

I continued. "And my friend was the one who convinced them to get on the ship,"

"He didn't tell me, this?"

Here we go.

"He passes you that info, but not me?"

"I don't even think he was supposed to-"

"If he thinks he's going to get away with leaving me in the dark, I'm afraid he's mistaken."

His sounded pretty grim. What is it with these two? I decided it was time to change the subject. I looked around for any ideas. Rocks? No. Marina? Not a good idea. I took a look outside of the entrance of the cavern. The snow hasn't seemed to pick up or anything. I wish I could see the stars.

I looked up at him. "Did your world have constellations?"

"What's that supposed to be?"

"Thousands of years ago, people would imagine the stars made pictures in the sky, and they'd keep records of them,"

He seemed almost amused by the thought.

"There are thousands," I began to slip into thought again. "Most of them don't seem to look like what they're said to be. They must have been creative to come up with some of this stuff."

"There was nothing like that on Cybertron, but the stars were coded with a series of numbers and kept in logs,"

"We give them names, here,"

"Sounds like a waste of time,"

I looked away shyly. "I share a name with a star,"

"Vega?"

I nodded.

"It's different; I'll give you that," He stood up from his lean. "We need to get going."

I managed to get my aching joints in motion. With a bit of a struggle, I stood up. "Right,"

He was the first one to exit, and I followed behind. The freezing winds hit me like a bus. We were hoping the tracks hadn't been covered by the snow or anything. Lucky for us, we were able to spot them and get back on following them. I was feeling a little better now. The short rest had certainly gone a long way. The skies were still cloudy, and the wind seemed to have changed direction. It was now blowing at the right of me.

"What's the most dangerous planet you've been to?" I asked out of the blue.

He didn't seem to be prepared for any questions. He took a minute to think. "A planet called 'Deadline,'" He replied. "It's where most of my pets back on the ship came from."

With that tidbit, I could only imagine what that world could be like. Good Lord.

"Just so you know, Earth isn't the worst place I've ever been to,"

"That's good to know,"

"You just all get on my fucking nerves…"

I had sudden flashbacks of him and Sgt. beefing it out over something stupid. I gave a slight cackle at that.

"These tracks aren't giving us any leads," He said. In his tone was a hint of frustration.

"They seem just to go on and on-"

The moment he put his foot down to take another step, he immediately began convulsing. I wasn't sure what was going on at first. I walked out in front of him, not sure what to do.

"Lockdown?"

His optics locked with my eyes and he looked horrified. He must not have known what was going on, either. He suddenly dropped to his knees before ultimately falling and landing face-first in the snow. I sprinted toward him as best as I could in the deep snow. I knelt down and began shouting his name, hoping for a response.

His optics had gone dark. I placed a hand against his face. He was still warm. It's almost as if he's been knocked out. I felt myself becoming anxious. I had no way of contacting anyone. I looked all around, but there was no one. There was nothing I could do. I felt my breathing began to pick up and my heart rate quickly rocketing up. I was stuck with a passed-out bot alone. Or that's what I thought.

I spotted two red dots in the distance. Then two more appeared only meters away. Then another two dots. Optics. Soon enough, we were surrounded by them, and they were all locked onto us.


	19. Astronomy Domine

**You know what I hate? When this bitch likes to cut off parts of my chapter. Fuck you.**

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Chapter 19:

I couldn't find it in me to even move a muscle. I was feeling a multitude of things. Horror, confusion, hopelessness. I didn't know what to make of anything, right now. The red lights of their optics began closing in and soon enough I could see dark shapes. Figures. Their forms were cloaked in darkness. They began to get closer. There was about eight of them.

What little light there was began to reveal their sharp shapes and strange, beast-like faces. They had fangs and talons, some of them even had multiple limbs or multiple sets of optics. I could see their dull, faded out colors. They were so drab yet so full of life. There was one I could tell was obviously the boss. That one was the largest and the most threatening-looking of them all. It had massive, sharp-looking claws. It had many long, razor-like teeth and four huge tusks hanging from its mouth.

Its four optics closed in on us, and it began to just… look at us. The other bots did so as well. They were observing us. My fear had reached its peak. I didn't even know what to _think_. I felt so _powerless_ without Lockdown to save me. The boss bot turned to one of its comrades by its side. It began to speak, but it was in no language I had _ever_ heard. They were probably deciding what to do with us. I didn't want to imagine what they were thinking.

I took a deep breath and gather up what little courage was left in me. "W-what do you want?!" I shouted.

In unison, all of their heads snapped in my direction and their optics were all on me. _I immediately regretted this decision._ Something didn't feel right, suddenly. Well, none of this felt right. Just something felt _off_ , all of the sudden. _Something behind me._ I whipped around and before I knew it one of them quickly snatched me up in its hand. The moment its fingers gripped around me I let out a throat-shredding shriek, but the mech didn't seem to care.

It lifted me to its face and despite how deformed it looked, it seemed to look almost _confused_. I glanced around me and the other bots seemed to look this way, as well. Have they spend all this time on Earth and _never_ have seen a human, prior? It's a possibility. A few of them began speaking. I turned around to see the largest bot throw the limp and unconscious Lockdown over its shoulder. It turned around and motioned for the other to follow, and they did.

I could not fathom any idea where these Decepticons were taking us and why. Maybe they knew something about the shard. Maybe they're responsible for Lockdown passing out. Was he shot with some sort of tranquilizer bullet or something when I wasn't looking? I had so many questions that I wasn't getting any answers to. Eventually, they strayed away from the tire tracks. We were taken into the mountains and they brought us all the way back to a cave.

I couldn't believe what I saw, here. These guys must have been here for quite a long time because it's been fully converted into a base. The walls were plated with metal panels, and there were equipment and screens against the wall. It wasn't a very large cave. It didn't seem to go back very far. They only had _twenty-meters_ of space from the entrance to the back of the cave. Which isn't a lot when you're a _story-and-a-half_ tall robot. At the very back was a giant, metal round disk propped up on a pillar. It seemed to be a table or a counter. Maybe a meeting spot for the bots.

I watched the boss bot drop Lockdown on the cave floor. The bot that had me in his grip was the last to come inside. They kind of all just stood around, talking in that weird language. I was hoping to get a better look. Then the bot walked _right past_ the group and plopped down on a rock a few feet away. ' _Plopped down'_ probably isn't a good way to describe it. More like ' _Clanked down'_ because that's the sound I heard when he sat. My view wasn't _totally_ obstructed, but it was less than ideal.

It held me up again and it tilted its head. It seemed completely perplexed by my existence. It moved its fist down a little and opened its fingers to get a better look at me. I was a complete loss for any ideas, now. What was I supposed to do in a situation like this? It brought its hand up and planted a finger right on my stomach. It knocked the wind right out of me. I tried to push it away while gasping for air, but it was useless. It began to poke at my flesh, probably enjoying how _squishy_ it is.

"Stop that!" I cried out

It didn't seem even to acknowledge I said anything. It probably didn't understand me, even. It did stop, after a few seconds. I thought it was over. That was until it took my arm between its fingers and lifted it. It moved it all around, staring at it from each angle. Then it picked up my leg and did the same. This thing seemed fascinated. It was almost cute in a way. I hoped he wasn't gonna get _too_ curious, now…

I was still pretty worried about Lockdown. I shifted a little to try and turn to get a look. I felt another shock course through my body when I saw the group of Decepticons finishing putting a chain around the guy. I heard a loud ' _click'_ as one of them fastened a lock on the chains. They threw him into a corner, and then they dispersed.

" _Oh shit,_ " I muttered. This isn't good. He is going to be _pissed_ when he wakes up. I almost don't want to be here for it, but I know I just can't abandon him. I turned back to look at the bot. I think it was starting to get tired of playing with me. It was boredly tugging at my ankles, at this point.

Suddenly, my boot popped off. The bot froze up. I slowly leaned forward and didn't take my eyes off the bot. I plucked the boot from between its fingers and shimmied it back onto my foot, still maintaining eye-contact with the bot. It looked at me. I looked at it. _The stare-down that went on for figurative centuries_.

It then slowly wrapped its fingers around me once more. It lowered me and then dropped me on the floor. I stood up and dusted myself off. I looked to my right and saw all of the bots crowded around that counter. The bot rose up from his seat to join them. I could hear their grainy, raspy voices as they spoke. They seemed distracted, enough, so I ran as quietly as I could to the unconscious bot. He was slumped over and propped against the wall and only a few meters away.

When I got to him, I called out his name in a hushed tone, a few times. No response. There was only one other thing I could think of. I put my climbing skills to use, once again. Getting up on his leg to start with wasn't hard, but I had second thoughts on crawling up the rest of his body. What if he wakes up and panics and knocks me off? Now that I was up higher, I tried calling his name again but it didn't work. I guess I had no choice.

There were a lot of spots for me to grip onto. It wasn't hard at all. I reached his shoulder and I tried one last time to wake him up.

"Lockdown!"

He didn't reply.

I began to rapidly hit his face with my hand. "Lockdown!" I raised my voice a little bit more.

And with that, he sprang to life. He quickly sat up, his optics were wide. He began frantically looking around, trying to make sense of the situation. He then turned his head and looked at me. He opened his mouth to say something.

"Shhh!" I tried to hush him before he could say a word. I pointed to the group of bots.

"Decepticons!"

" _What's going on_?" He said quietly. I could hear his sheer anger and confusion in his voice.

I shrugged. "You passed out and they dragged us back here."

He quickly turned and looked at the ground, taking a moment to think. "They must have a frequency emitter in the area,"

"What's that mean?"

"It means they were aiming to put any bot that came by into a _stasis lock_ ,"

"So you were basically unconscious?"

"Yes,"

I turned back to the group of Decepticons. They still seemed distracted. Suddenly, a loud ' _clink'_ rang out through the cave. It was Lockdown making that sound. He was trying to struggle free from the chains. I got his attention and tried to get him to stop, but it was too late. The bots all whipped around to look in our direction.

" _Now_ what do we do?"

"Vega, break the lock!" He started trying to wiggle his arm free.

"What?"

"The lock!"

I realized he was moving his arm to get my attention. I looked down and surely enough there was a lock just below his forearm. I seemed to be some sort of latch that held the lock together. I reached over and wrapped my hand around it before giving it a stiff tug. It didn't budge. I tried again. And again. But it just wasn't enough.

When the bots realized what I was trying to do, they began rushing toward us.

"Vega!" Lockdown shouted.

"I'm trying!" I leaned in and grabbed ahold of the latch with my other hand. For a little extra leverage, I placed a foot on a link of the chain and pulled with every bit of strength my arms could muster up. I felt the latch beginning to slide out of the slot. With a loud ' _click'_ , the latch was out and the lock popped right open. I put a little too much strength into it. I lost my grip and went _hurtling_ toward the wall.

My back collided with it and I bounced off onto the floor. _Damn, that really hurt._ It took me a moment to get back up. I clutched my back and groaned loudly. During this, Lockdown jumped up and pulled the chains from his body. One of the bots went straight for him, but faster than you could say ' _piercing_ _damage'_ His hook unsheathed a hook on his wrists and he sunk the tip of it deep into the bot's back.

He spun him around and slammed him onto the floor. Another one came at him with its claws ready and slashed at him. He dodged the attacks so skillfully but then suddenly, he was swiped across the chest. After doubling over and recoiling back in pain, he quickly sprung up and caught the bot by the arm. He twisted it around its back and kicked out its knees and it dropped to the ground.

Lockdown looked up. He glanced at the many others he'd have to take on before turning around and giving me an urgent look.

"Go back to base," He said coldly. "Have them let you in!"

"Can you take them all on-?"

He was suddenly tackled by one of them. I jumped back and yelped, being completely caught off guard by this. Another came to help its teammates take down the mech, but their efforts were fruitless. He shoved back and his balance didn't falter.

"You have no reason to stay here!" He spat. "Save yourself, I'll hold them back!"

I swallowed hard and nodded. I ran for the exit. I didn't get far before I heard the thunderous footsteps of one of the bots. I didn't even have to turn around, I knew I was being chased. But I did anyway. It was the largest one, the one I thought was the boss. My heart dropped. He didn't move very fast, but there was no way in hell I was getting away from this thing. I stopped and turned around, ready to bite the bullet. In an instant, I watched a hand burst through its chest and it was fought to the ground by none other than Lockdown.

"Go!" He shouted.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I don't think I've ever run this fast in my life. If it weren't for the footprints in the snow, I would have never been able to find my way out of the mountains. They were getting filled in by the snow, but they were still very much visible. I didn't stop until I saw tire tracks, again. They were just barely there, now, but Lockdown's footprints were still pretty obvious.

Then came the asthma to kick my ass. I doubled over, trying to catch my breath. I collapsed onto my knees. I felt weak. For minutes on end, the only thing I could think about was my breathing. It was heavy and fast and I could start to hear the starting of a wheeze. It took me some time to get back any energy. That energy I did get back, I used to dig through my bag. I whipped out a bright red inhaler. I didn't think I'd really need this thing, not until allergy season, at least, but I'm glad I brought it. Surely, I would have died out here without it.

I took a few puffs of it. I could feel my airways opening back up. I can't believe I left him behind. There isn't any sense in going back. I should just go back to base. 'He can do this by himself,' I tried to convince myself. After all, he's been doing this for eons. It's not like he hasn't dealt with anything like this, before. It doesn't matter how far they run or how hard the fight, he always finds a way, right?

I finally got back up. The snow was starting to pick up a little. I should just go back to base, now. I walked along, following the footprints. It was almost funny seeing my much tinier tracks next to them. I already knew I had small feet, but it was like comparing the feet of a rabbit to a bear. The tire tracks were gone, now. They were long covered up by the snowfall.

The footprints eventually made a sharp turn. This had to be the way back to base. The snow was getting heavier and heavier. The wind was picking up, as well. I didn't have much time to waste. It was scary being alone, out here. I seemed to be the only living thing in sight, right now. I didn't see anything else. There were no animals, there were no other people. Just snow and trees as I ventured through the forest.

I could feel the cold wind stinging my eyes. My joints were aching. I felt like I was freezing over. It was a miserable trip. The long hike went on for almost twenty minutes until I could see it on the horizon. Just faintly, I could see the base. The lights were off. That couldn't be a good sign. I hurried towards it, anyway. I was in the home stretch, but the walk seemed to take forever. The closer I got the farther it felt, but I got there eventually.

I placed my hand on the steel gate, looking for some way - any way to get in. I couldn't find any buzzer or anything that could open the gate, at first. Then I noticed a small box with a red optic in the center. A badge reader. I took my cold, stiff hand off the gate opened up my bag. With my shaking hands, I took out the small black wallet that contained my ID from the airfield. It worked for things back there, I don't see why it wouldn't work, here. This place is apart of the same unit. It had to work. I opened it and pressed it against the optic.

Nothing.

I tried everything I could. It just wouldn't work. I dropped down and huddled up against the gate in the snow. Lockdown can't come back. He's not allowed on base. The dropship was lord-knows where, but I didn't have the strength to get up and find it. I probably wouldn't be able to get into it, anyway. Maybe if I'm lucky, he'll see me on his way back. Lord knows how long it'll take for him, though. If he comes back at all.

I shouldn't be thinking these things, he has to come back, eventually. He can't just leave me here. I was tired. I closed my eyes for just a moment. When I opened them back up, I was somewhere different, now.

Somehow, I immediately could tell I was dreaming. It was better than being frozen in the real world, I suppose.

The room was mostly a chrome, metallic color. The floors, the walls. Even the balconies beside me. The ceiling was lined with fluorescent lights. The place seemed really industrial. I looked down and realized something. It's either this room was really small, or I was just really, really big. Then I realized what was going on. Somehow, this was a little less bizarre than last time. I turned to my left and saw Marina. I wasn't shocked by this in the slightest.

"Marina, what's my name?" I immediately knew to ask.

She tilted her head, clearly confused by this question. "What?"

"What's my name?"

"Sentinel, isn't it?"

I was right. I must be in Sentinel's perspective, now.

"You haven't gone and forgotten your name, have you?" She clutched her clipboard closer to her chest and glanced around nervously. "Are… you should we should go through with this?"

I wasn't sure what she was talking about. It's best if I don't ask. I didn't want to confuse her, again. "Yes," I said, unsurely.

"Well, the pillars are hidden just behind that safe, down that hall," She extended her arm and pointed my left. I looked over and saw the hallway. It appeared to have a door that was now lifted. Surely enough, there was a vault door just at the end of it. "Just remember, you didn't get them from me."

"Right,"

"I promise to keep quiet until you give me the ok," She said shyly. "I'll always stick by you." She gave me a very warm and sincere smile. Behind her eyes, I could see a great wave of sadness.


	20. A New Machine

**AN: Happy Easter! The April Fool's chapter has been taken down, but if you do wanna see it, let me know. It was basically the first chapter of My Immortal, the best worst fanfic that has ever graced the internet, just rewritten with the characters in the story.**

 **Sorry for the April Fools thing, I love you ;-; Anyway, I just wanna say I really appreciate the kind words I've been receiving. Whenever I receive a review, I'm always terrified that someone's gonna snap and tear apart my story. I'm just shocked at how well-received this story has been, so far. I wanna give you guys a big thank you.**

 **Just a heads up, this chapter is dialogue driven as fuck. Also FUCK you, autocorrect, changing 'accent' to 'accident', you fuck.**

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Chapter 20:

I woke up. I pried my weary eyes open and saw that the snow was getting heavy. I shut them again. It's not like it really mattered. I was gonna die soon, anyway. How will Lockdown feel about this? It's hard to imagine what he'll think. Will he be genuinely sad? Will he just loot my body and take the necklace? Will he keep me in his memory or just toss me aside? I'm only human. I'm like the rest of them. He won't be heartbroken that I'm gone. It's been a wild ride, thus far. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, though.

It's a little sad that it's almost over. It could have gone on for much longer, maybe. Now, I don't know much about _dying_ , but I could have sworn I was beginning to hallucinate. You know that feeling when someone opens the curtains while you're sleeping? How the light suddenly hits you and your eyelids aren't enough to keep it out? That's kind of like what happened, suddenly. I didn't bother to open up my eyes and see, I just shifted out of the way and shielded my eyes.

Suddenly I heard a voice. " _Is he even alive?_ " From the position I was in, my ears were mostly covered. It sounded a little muffled.

" _I think that's a chick,"_ another voice added.

" _Okay, is SHE alive, then_?"

That's when I realized they were talking about me. I was almost too cold to move; it took me a minute to gather the will to do so.

" _I don't think so,_ "

" _What a shame,_ "

Rolling over to see who was speaking was difficult. It was like trying to spin a rusted wheel, almost. My joints felt like they were frozen solid. I opened my eyes, and I winced at the light. When they finally adjusted, I could see the faint figures of three bots. One of them was holding the light, and there was one on each side of that one.

"She _is_ alive!" One of them called out.

"Get that light off of me," I uttered. Somehow, they must have heard me. The light in the one bot's hand became duller and a little more tolerable.

"Sorry, mate," The one with the light spoke. He had an accent. He sounded almost _Scottish._ I guess that wasn't _too_ out of the ordinary; we did have a run-in with an Italian bot.

My thought finally unscrambled, and I was able to make sense of things. At that moment, I knew exactly who I was staring at. These were the guys we were supposed to be hunting down. Here they were, right outside of the fucking base and no one inside seems to have _any_ idea. The green one was the one with the light. The blue and red ones were standing there, not doing anything, really.

"You guys can't be here," I slurred out. "They're looking for you."

"Who?" The blue one spoke. His voice was different from the other two I heard. It was surprisingly deep, and he had a slight accent. _Something European_ , but I just couldn't quite put a finger on it. "The people in this building?"

"Yes," I rose my stiff hand and pulled my necklace up out of my collar. "I knew your friend Marina," They all came closer and tried to get a look at the piece of jewelry.

"Aye, that _is_ her necklace," The red one said. "She was a traitor."

"I know, but I need you to take me somewhere safe,"

"How do we know _you_ won't turn on us?"

"I helped your friends," It was getting hard to speak. "Sideswipe… Ratchet…"

The three exchanged looks.

"We need to get far away from here,"

The red bot turned to back to the others. "Should we take her back?"

"Why bother? She's going to _die_ , anyway," The green one said.

The three of them began bickering. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying before I blacked out. I don't remember anything after any that. I woke up feeling groggy and still pretty tired. Tired enough to sleep, again. I had a faint memory of a dream. The necklace was in my hands. The jewel had melted away, and the shard was all that was left. It burned my skin. At that moment, I _knew_ everything. I _saw_ everything. But what was ' _everything'_? I sat up and tried to remember it all, but I couldn't seem to figure it out. I knew what it felt like, but I just couldn't remember. If that makes _any_ sense.

It took me a moment to take everything in. I was no longer by the base, but instead, inside of a cave. It was warm. I was absolutely thrilled by this. My blanket was out of my bag and over my lap. Maybe I got it out once I got here. I looked up and found the source of the heat. There was a blazing fire a few meters away from me. It was going strong, too.

The three bots were sitting around it, as well. They were talking, but I wasn't focused on what they were saying. I was still thinking about my dream. How did I come to learn everything but then _forget it_? How does someone just know everything, suddenly? The three suddenly exploded with laughter, and it completely threw off my train of thought.

The green bot's gaze began to wander around the room until he noticed me. "The human's awake!" The other two immediately turned to look at me.

It was a little unnerving having their undivided attention on me. "Oh, hello,"

"You've been passed out for an hour or two," The red bot said.

"We thought you were dead," The blue bot chimed in.

"I only said it was a possibility-" The green bot interrupted

"Do you guys have any idea what time it is?" I asked.

They all stared at me blankly.

"Nevermind… then..."

"None of us got a clock or anything, sorry," The red bot said. "Come on over here!" He motioned for me to join the group.

I rolled up my blanket and searched for my bag. It was behind me, I found. After stuffing it inside, I sheepishly got up and came closer to sit with the group. I looked at them. They looked at me. They could probably tell how I was feeling.

"What were you doing out there?" The red bot asked.

I titled my head back and sighed. "It's a long story-"

"We like long stories," The green bot said.

I giggled slightly, but I quickly stopped when I remembered the severity of the whole situation. "There's this guy that's looking to have you captured-"

"Not anything we haven't dealt with,"

"No, he's one of you guys,"

They all fell silent. The atmosphere became weirdly dramatic, suddenly.

"Do you know who _Lockdown_ is?".

I wish I could fully describe the looks they gave me. I could see an amalgamation of disgust and anger written across their faces.

"How do _you_ know who the guy is?" The red bot asked.

"It's… it's because I came with him," They all had the reaction I expected. They were just as shocked as the other bots were to hear this.

"She _is_ a traitor!" The green bot yelled.

"The thing is, I met two of your friends," I was speaking fast, trying to make them understand. "And I promised them I'd keep _all_ of you away from him,"

They all looked suspicious.

"It's worked so far, the both of them are still okay,"

"Who did you say they were, again?" The blue bot asked.

"It was a green one named Ratchet and then a silver one named Sideswipe,"

The three of them exchanged glances.

"Wasn't someone else supposed to with them?"

My heart sank. "Oh, uh… Dino…"

"Right,"

"He..." I tried to think of what to tell them. "He... attacked me and ran off." I turned my head and showed them the scar.

They all in leaned in to try and get a better look.

" _Goddamn_ ," The green bot muttered. "That doesn't seem out of the ordinary for the guy - he was never fond of humans."

I reached down and fidgeted with the jewel of my necklace for a moment. The three were just looking around, exchanging looks, glancing around the cave. They probably weren't entirely sure what to think of me, just yet.

"I don't think I told you guys my name," I looked up at the three. "My name's Vega."

They all exchanged looks, again.

"Well uh, I'm Leadfoot," The red bot began. He then pointed to the green bot, "That's Roadbuster," Then the blue bot, "That's Topspin."

"It's nice to meet you guy and all, but-"

"What was a lone human like you doing out here in the snow?" Leadfoot asked.

"Well, we initially came out here to look for you guys," I scratched my head, trying to remember it all. "We found tire tracks and followed them and then he… _blacked out_. Then we were jumped by a gang of Decepticons."

"And he just left you to die?" Topspin inquired.

"Not exactly - we were dragged back to a cave, and when he woke up to fight them, he told me to run back to base,"

"Ah,"

"He told me to get them to let me in, but…"

"You work for that unit that's trying to kill us, don't you?" Roadbuster chimed in. He seemed a little leery of me, still.

I felt a spike of nervousness shoot through me. "I didn't really plan to, he kind of just picked me out, one day,"

"You're telling me that Lockdown swiped some mere little human off the street and it just so happened to be _you_?"

I glared at him. I almost reminded myself of Lockdown, for a moment. " It's complicated," I said snapped dryly. "Marina's necklace has an All-Spark shard in it,"

" _And?_ "

He was really pissing me off, now. "It's been leading Decepticons right to me! That's how we've been tracking these guys down!"

He didn't have anything else to add. He didn't seem convinced, though.

"We came from mainlands of the U.S, and we were stationed at an airfield for a while. We were hunting down Decepticons, but then we were tasked to bring you back-"

"He'll _never_ take us alive," Leadfoot said with a snicker.

"Well, if you guys intend on being here, I can't stay with you much longer,"

They all seemed a bit puzzled.

"He can track down the energy signal of the necklace. If he finds me, he'll have you guys, too,"

"Makes sense to me," Roadbuster said.

"Right," He was probably only agreeing because he wanted me out of here. Just by looking at this bot, I can tell he doesn't do much thinking ahead. I could always be wrong, though.

"If you leave, you're just going to end up back with him," Topspin almost looked like he was thinking hard about something.

"I don't have a choice, really," I sighed. "I seemed to be the only one with any chance of keeping him from destroying everything."

"He took you away from your home, mate," Leadfoot said. "You shouldn't be doing _anything_ for him."

"If I'm not there, who's going to stop him from getting to your friends?"

"Hell, if we die, we die," Topspin was looking at the ground. I could definitely tell he was deep in thought, now. "But he doesn't need to be dragging ordinary humans into this,"

"So, what are you guys saying?"

"We're saying you should roll with _us_ , for awhile," Leadfoot began. "We're about ready to piss off out of this frozen wasteland, anyway."

"If he _really_ wants that shard, he may come looking for me,"

"I don't feel like _dying_ for this chick," Roadbuster blurted. "Let's just send her out of here."

"Well, I don't want that scrapheap to have that shard," Leadfoot said grimly. "We'll think of something,"

I didn't have much to say to them, after that. I'm not particularly the one for small talk. I was still pretty tired despite my rest. The three began chatting some more while I drifted off to sleep, once again.


	21. Free Four

**AN: First off, fun fact: I wanted to post this chapter like two days ago, but then I got food poisoning, and it was fucking awful. 0/10, would not recommend.**

 **Moving on, I wanna break it to you that this story is more than half-way over. I won't spoil how many chapters are left, but don't freak out; we still have a Hell of a lot of stuff to cover. Second of all, I'm working on a spin-off for Marina. I'm just gonna say right now that we're not going to learn much more about Marina in this story. In the spin-off, we're gonna look at basically everything about her. So that's all. Sorry for the long author's note.**

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Chapter 21:

The room was dark. Suddenly, a light flared up in front of me. I had to shield my eyes. It was like the sun, dialed up to _one-hundred_. When it finally faded, I immediately recognized the bot in front of me. It was Sentinel, again. I didn't know what to say or think, even. These weird dreams were starting to get out of hand.

" _After all this time, we were able to get through to you,"_ He spoke in his gruff voice. He was holding something in his hands. From down here, I couldn't tell what it was. He seemed somber, almost like something was bothering him.

I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Fear not, this won't be as surreal as the rest of them," He chuckled slightly. Seeing this big, stoic-looking bot laugh so innocently was weirdly _cute,_ in a way.

He then knelt down to me. He took my arm between his thumb and index finger before gently lifting it. He then revealed what was in his hand. It was the necklace. He held dangled it in front of me for a moment, and the jewel was glowing with a strange blue aura. He carefully lowered into my palm, and the second it touched my flesh I saw _everything_.

Not _everything_ everything like when I dreamt about it melting. Everything that happened that day in Chicago and what lead up to it. The shard burned Marina's skin, kinda like what I dreamt about. From that moment on, she stood by Sentinel all throughout the incident. I wasn't able to see _why_ touching this shard made her side with him.

Sentinel turned his gun on a comrade before raiding the base. He took the Pillars and began a conquest to spread them around different parts of Earth. Then, the activation happened. At that moment, everyone knew life on Earth would _never_ be the same.

I could almost feel the way he and Marina did when they decided they had to do away with the Autobots. It was far too risky to keep them alive. With a heavy heart - or spark, he demanded an immediate exile. Believe it or not, the humans were genuinely upset by this. Who would have thought? In today's day and age, everyone would be _overjoyed_ to see them go. But that was before the propaganda came.

Their leader was a lot of things to them. A stranger, a legend, a _martyr_. For a second, I caught a quick glimpse of what could have been. Sentinel never stopped to think that he could have been these things, too, one day. He could have fought alongside his dear friend for the Earth. He would've come to love and cherish his new home. It could have been great _._

I could see the city. Dead. Grey. Cold. It was in ruins, and _he_ was to blame. The team came back just in time, much to the duo's surprise. It was long past the point of no return. During the battle, a casualty happened. A blue bot. A funny-looking guy. He seemed… _familiar_. I just don't know why, though.

The battle went on for quite awhile, but it all flashed before my eyes in an instant. After a long, hard fight, one final confrontation came along. The confrontation that would seal the fate of the Earth. When death was inevitable for the Autobot leader, then came along another bot. The Decepticon leader joined the scrap. Finally, Sentinel was defeated, that afternoon.

I stepped back and blinked a few times. It was hard to take in all of that at once. Marina was there for all of it. She _helped_ him. She knew it all and told me nothing. But I understand, now. She couldn't let anyone else know what she's done.

"Thank you," The bot said softly. "You were good to Marina. She's safe with me, now."

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I clutched the necklace. It didn't take long for me to break down crying. I couldn't help myself.

"I understand," I whimpered.

"Continue to protect the Autobots. Don't let Lockdown take Optimus."

This whole ' _night for three months'_ thing has really been throwing me off. I still had no idea what time it was when I woke up. I felt well-rested, but pretty sad, now. I know Marina is long dead, but it just upsets me to know it had to happen like this. She was alone. It's not like she could turn to her family or anything. Her past ate her alive and ultimately lead to her turning herself in. I wonder what they thought when she told them. Maybe they didn't believe her, at first. Not every day do you see the accomplice of a genocidal robot turn herself in.

But I digress. I must've been asleep for a few hours. I woke up to see the three bots laying around on the cave floor. Leadfoot was laying on his back with limbs sprawled out. Roadbuster was laying on his chest and his head buried in his arms. Topspin was sitting against the cave wall. They were all passed out. I have no idea what time they decided to sleep - or recharge, I should say. The fire was now reduced to a little flame, and it was getting colder, in here.

It was pretty dark, too. I looked around. There didn't seem to be anything to throw into the flame to make it any larger. For a moment, I thought back to a memory from back home. I was at a party with a friend, and she threw gasoline into her fire pit. Her uncle told her it was a stupid idea. She did it anyway. That outfit I wore that day smelled like smoke for a _whole year_.

But once again, I digress. I was pretty damn hungry, suddenly. Then I remembered I hadn't eaten anything since we've got here. I picked up my bag and plopped it onto my lap. My rations stash was starting to shrink. All that was really left were those freeze-dried meals you add water to. I was trying to avoid those; they looked kind of _nasty_. I guess I have no choice, now.

A lot of the food was at the very bottom. I had to take out a lot of my stuff just to get to it. During this, I suddenly heard a voice.

"What _don't_ you have in that bag?" I looked up and noticed Topspin was now awake. He was looking down at the items strewn about. Sweaters, rolls of yarn, pens, water bottles, a hairbrush, and that stupid cactus were just a few things to name.

I giggled. "Anything but a hammer and nails," I said.

The bot stepped over his two friends. He sat down right by me just off to my left. I finally found the freeze-dried stuff. I was able to find five packets, all with something different inside. I laid them all out in front of me and looked at them. Most of them were different kinds of pasta. I picked them all up and read the labels, but none of them really seemed appetizing. The largest one had an entire lasagna in it. A lasagna _does_ sound pretty good about now… but there's no way in Hell I could eat the whole thing myself. The next best thing was a packet that had beef stew.

The directions say to use hot water. I glanced up at the fire despite knowing trying to boil anything would be useless. The flame was almost dead, at this point. That notion went flying out the window. It's not like cold food has ever _killed_ anybody. I cracked open a water bottle and poured some in. I dug a fork out of my bag and gave the meal a quick stir before taking a bite. It wasn't too bad. It tasted like something you'd get in a can.

"What are you doing up?" The bot asked.

"Hungry,"

Topspin leaned in and picked up a roll of yarn between his fingers. He held it up and turned it as he looked at every side of it. He let it roll into his palm. "What is this for?"

"It's yarn; you make stuff with it,"

"Like what?"

"Anything a person could wear, just about,"

"Interesting."

He dropped the yarn back on the ground and looked at me.

"So what happened to you again?" He asked.

"Well," I put down the packet on the ground beside me, and I stared at the ground for a moment. "We found tire tracks. We went back and forth for a moment, they looked like snow tires, and they couldn't have possibly be made by race car tires-"

"Were they really wide?"

"Yeah,"

"They were probably ours,"

"That's what he thought," I sighed. "Then after that, we took a break. We did some more walking, and before I knew what was happening, he was unconscious."

"Why was that?"

"He told me those Decepticons planted a device or something," I scratched my head, trying to remember what he said. "Something that played a frequency that knocked him out."

"Oh, it was a stasis lock, probably,"

"How come you guys weren't affected when you went by?"

He stopped to think for a moment. "I don't remember anyone going into a stasis lock, during our drive..."

"Maybe they didn't set it up until after you were gone,"

"They could have seen our tracks and wanted to catch whoever made them."

We were quiet for a moment. He seemed to be thinking.

"Can you tell me about Marina?" I asked.

He looked a little puzzled, for a moment. "I didn't know very much about her myself,"

"She hid a lot from me," I sighed. "Even when she was around she was a mysterious person,"

"Did Ratchet tell you anything about her? "

"He did. Sideswipe, too,"

"Those two were around her a lot,"

I nodded.

"She was alright," He mumbled. "She always let us off base."

"I've been having strange dreams about her and Sentinel-" I was suddenly interrupted.

"I didn't like the way she talked to us," Another voice chimed in. It was Roadbuster. His head was still resting on his arms, so he sounded a bit muffled.

Topspin turned around. "She talked to us like we were little kids," he added.

"Oh my God, Ironhide _hated_ her,"

I can definitely see how that can be frustrating.

Topspin turn around to face me, again. "It was like being talked to by a Kindergarten teacher,"

Roadbuster lifted his head. "Whenever we'd piss her off enough, she'd just kick us off base,"

"I don't think they ever figured out who was doing it," Topspin laughed.

"They did _not_ like us being off base,"

Another voice chimed in. "Probably cause you guys would fuck around so much," It was Leadfoot, still laying on the floor.

"Oh, like you were never down for it?" Roadbuster snapped.

"Don't act like you weren't apart of it," Topspin added.

Leadfoot quickly sat up. Well, as fast a tubby-looking bot could sit up. "I would try to stop you!"

"Give me a goddamn break! You would go ' _no, stop'_ and then you'd give up when no one wanted to listen to you!" Roadbuster said.

Before I knew it, the gang was arguing. I sat there nonchalantly finishing my stew. I couldn't understand a damn thing they were going on about with the three of them all yelling like that. From what I could tell I think Topspin and Roadbuster were on the same team, here. Leadfoot may have been in the wrong. When I finished eating, I crammed all of my stuff back into my bag. By the time I finished that, they were still going at it.

"Guys," I tried to interject. "So, what are we doing?"

The three of them stopped and looked at me.

"Right," Leadfoot said as he rubbed his chin. "I think we know what we're going to do with you."

"Yeah," Roadbuster said.

"To make this as short as possible, we're going to travel across Alaska and board a ship to the mainlands, rather than just driving through Canada, again," Leadfoot began. "We contacted one of our mates. Before we get there, he's gonna come and take the necklace back to where he and his mates are hiding."

I took the jewel between my fingers and nervously fidgeted with it a bit. I didn't want to let it go, really. I knew I had too, though.

"They're going to bury it somewhere," Roadbuster said. "If he's gonna track you down using the necklace, it'll throw him off course."

"I see," I muttered.

Leadfoot stood up. "We should probably get a move on, we ain't got much time,"

The other two stood up as well. Roadbuster appeared to be _stretching_. What does a robot _have_ to need to stretch? The three of them began walking toward the exist. Topspin stopped and motioned for me to come along. I put the strap of my bag over my shoulder and stood up. I felt the urge to stretch my back a little.

I had to ignore it, for now. The three stopped at the entrance and looked outside for a moment. It was still snowing.

"Damn, it's _bitch dark_ , out here," Roadbuster said.

I gave him a weird look. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means it's _bitch dark_ ,"

I shook my head. I have no idea what he meant, but I guess these guys weren't used to the twenty-four-hour darkness, either.

"We should probably get out of here before he comes looking for me," I spoke up. "How long is it going to take us?"

" _Days,_ " Leadfoot answered.

"Are you sure we're not gonna get caught before we get there?"

"I doubt it,"

"Well, if you guys know what you're doing…"

"Who's taking the girl?" Roadbuster blurted. "I'm not,"

He quickly turned to look at Leadfoot. I noticed Topspin was now staring at him too. He shook his head and snatched me up from the ground. In an instant, I was now seated on the driver's side of a race car. The interior was really rough and bare-bones looking. It didn't appear comfort or design was the priority, here. So then, we drove off. At an incredibly fast speed. The bot didn't hesitate to floor it once the others took off. The engines roared as we tore through the snow.

I can't say much about the few hours we spent driving. It was mostly the same snowy scenery along the way. I keep getting nervous. These guys' engines were making an _awful lot_ of noise. We came to a stop somewhere in a mountain range. In the distance, I could see the light of a small village. We were a little closer to civilization that I would have liked. Everyone there probably heard us coming from miles away.

Leadfoot transformed, and I was thrown out onto the snowy ground. I practically leaped up in an instant when the snow hit my legs. I brushed it off and stood up straight, pretending as if nothing happened. The other two transformed back into their humanoid forms. They stood around exchanging glances for a moment.

"I think we've hit our quota for today," Leadfoot said, turning to look at the town's lights. They were relatively dim. There wasn't many buildings or structures, down there. It seemed like a small, quiet village and we've most likely disrupted them.

The three went back and forth a little about where we could hide. Eventually, they decided on another cave would be our best option and we set out to look for one. Being in the mountains, it wouldn't take much effort to come across one. Soon enough, we came across a cave large enough for the bots. They had no problem making themselves at home. Before I settled in, I wanted to do something first.

I stepped in and watched as Roadbuster was propping his light on a rock sticking out of the wall. He began adjusting the lens, and the light became dispersed enough to light up the whole cave. Or the part we were going to be hanging out in, at least. ' _Did they even bother to check for bears or anything?'_ I thought

I shook my head. If there were bears, I certainly don't wanna be here for that. "Would you guys mind if I go into that town to pick up some food?" I said. All of them instantly turned and glared at me.

"How do we know you ain't gonna _snitch_?" Roadbuster snapped.

"Now, I have promised since the day I was born that _I ain't no snitch_ ," I retorted. "That isn't gonna change, here."

Leadfoot seemed to grow less suspicious. Maybe he could tell how dumb I am. He turned and looked at Roadbuster. "Go with her," He said.

"What?!" I shouted. "You guys aren't exactly subtle!"

"He's not going _in_ the town with you-"

"I'm just going to blow up the place if you snitch," Roadbuster yelled.

Topspin looked at me. "No, he's not," He said.

"Will you just go?" Leadfoot spat. He was getting irritated, now. "Don't let her get lost!"

Roadbuster stormed over to me. He snatched me up in his hand and practically threw me out of the cave when we reached the entrance. Luckily, I landed on my feet. _Just barely._

"C'mon kid," He said as he began walking off. He sounded a little defeated. I scampered behind him trying to catch up, like a little mouse. He didn't have anything else to say to me. He looked so _pissed_.

"Listen, I'm not gonna tell anyone about you guys, I just need food," I said.

He didn't say anything. Over the edge of the cliff, I could begin to see the village lights, again.

"If I really was planning to get you guys caught, do you really think I would have told you about Lockdown?"

"You're right, but… " He sneered. "Maybe that's what you _want_ us to think,"

I sighed and shook my head. There doesn't seem to be any way to convince this guy. He suddenly stopped and looked down at me.

"This is as far as I'm going. I'm not gonna be to waiting here forever."

I gave him a nasty look before trudging forward. The village was only just down the hill, and a short walk away from where we were standing. It looked a little bigger, now that we were closer to it. I turned around to see Roadbuster walking off. Maybe he was looking for a place to hide. Maybe he was leaving me here forever.

The walk was a little long, thanks to the snow. The harsh wind and the freezing snow stinging my face felt like _purgatory_. When I reached the town, I came to find nobody was out walking around. For a good reason, it was cold as fuck. A few cars were passing through, but other than that, the streets were pretty much barren. If it weren't for lights in the windows of a few buildings, I would have thought the place was abandoned.

The sidewalks were cleared off. I could feel the road salt crackling beneath my heels as I walked. I've seen a lot of snow come down in my life, but nothing like this. After a short walk, I came across a convenience store. It was small, but they probably had food. That's all that mattered to me.

I pushed open the door, and a lone clerk was standing by the register. He was a little scraggly-looking. He must have been no older than me. He had his head in his hands. He gave me a quick glance before looking away.

"Hello," I said, trying to get his attention. He didn't even acknowledge I said anything. ' _Jackass.'_ I thought.

This place didn't have much. They had snacks; they had sodas. What more do you need? I picked out mostly junk food. I haven't had chips or chocolate in _eons_. I grabbed a few bottles of soda, as well. When I went up to the counter, the dude began to ring me up and bag the items. Something by the register caught my eye. In a box were power banks for charging phones. They even came with cords, which is nice. I picked one up and looked at it a little. It was light blue and a cheapo looking one, but it'll do. The man completely stopped and glared at me when I placed the item in front of him.

We stood there staring at one another for a moment. "Is… there a problem?" I asked.

He let out a very loud sighed and rolled his eyes as he rung the last item up. When he finished, I pulled a twenty dollar bill out of my bag and threw it in his face. I snatched the plastic bag off the counter and swiftly exited the store. I was back out in the cold, now. The wind was still blowing the snow into my face. I looked up at the mountain range. I shouldn't keep Roadbuster waiting, much longer.


	22. Dogs of War

**AN: So, the dumbest shit just occurred to me. I was going down the road the other day, and I was halfway to my house when I realized I didn't write in Vega paying for the shit she came to the store for. I can't believe I made it seem like Vega straight up robbed a store. That's fixed now, by the way.**

 **On an unrelated note, I forgot how fun this story is to write. Expect more chapters, soon. ALSO Marina's spin-off, soon. Woo-hoo.**

* * *

Chapter 22:

I don't think Roadbuster and I are going to get along. When I got back, he barked at me about how long I took or whatever. During our walk back to the cave, he started going on about how I was a traitor, _again_. I know I could get creative and say a lot about him, but it's best I hold my tongue. I don't want him ditching me, out here. By the looks of it, that's certainly something I wouldn't put past the guy.

We soon found our way back. Leadfoot and Topspin weren't doing anything in particular. They were sitting down and facing each other. They must have been talking or doing something while we were gone.

The two looked directly at us before Roadbuster cried out. " _We're back!_ "

"We can see that," Topspin said flatly.

The green bot joined the other two, and they began to chatter away. I sat down against a wall by myself. The group was maybe a few meters away. I dumped out my plastic bag of goodies and laid everything out in front of me. I was surprised that they had a little more variety than I expected. I was able to find canned goods, such as soups and vegetables. Corn, green beans, and of course my favorite, _potatoes_. Potatoes are God's gift to this world.

I got a few candy bars and bags of chips. A few more bottles of water and a few sodas, too. There was one last thing I forgot about, the power bank. I picked it up and took a closer look at it. There wasn't much to see, it was just a blank _stick_. Well, not really a stick. I can't think of the word. Prism? _Rectangular_ Prism. That's it. The edges are rounded off and on the end of is a silver part with a USB plug. The cord was already plugged into it. I dug out the phone from my bag and plugged it up on the other side of the cord.

The phone screen flicked on. A render of a battery popped up, and below it, it read ' _1%_ '. There was no sticker or tag or anything that said how many charges the power bank is good for. I best make my battery life last, then.

I set it down. I looked around a little. The cave was pretty cold, but nowhere near as cold as it was outside. That memory of the beach came back, again. This time, I pictured my family standing by the water. You know how the water's cold and you stand there for a few minutes and dip your feet in. Just to get yourself adjusted before you get in there.

The worst part was always getting past the waves. Without being knocked down, I should say. Especially when a storm happened just a few days prior. That's when the waves are really crazy. I can't count all the times I've gotten caught up in a huge tide and end up washing up on the beach. I'd end up with sand _everywhere_. Sand in my hair, sand in my nostrils, sand in… places I really didn't want it. Somehow, it was always still a good time. I especially love boardwalk food. Something about the french fries and the burgers from a beachside vendor always tastes _so much better_.

Marina loved coming to the beach, too. I remember when she and I went one time and we witnessed a man almost go into shock. It was sunset and her and I went beachcombing, that night. We were looking for sea glass. They're little gemstones that are made of pieces glass bottles and other things. Over time they weather out and look like colorful pebbles. Marina made jewelry in her spare time. She taught me all about gemstones. I could go on and on about it, but I don't want to go too off the rails, here. On that evening, we came across a strange blob lying on the shore. I remember watching her reaching out to pick it up and physically pulling her away from it. I knew what it was.

This was a 'Man-o-War.' A type of jellyfish, I think. It will sting _the fuck_ out of you, whether it's alive or not. Now, these things are native to Portugal, so I'm not entirely sure how it washed up _here_ of all places. It must have certainly come a long way. I remember explaining this to her and neither of us knowing what to do about it. She suggested we get a rock and push it into the water, but people were swimming. What if it floats into somebody? The lifeguards were long gone, so we couldn't really tell anyone.

As we were talking about it, we watched a man walk right up to it. We screamed. We cried out, trying to ward the man away. But it was too late. He put his entire hand directly on that bitch. It was like time stopped, the moment his face dropped. He fell to the ground and began _screaming_. This caught everyone's attention on the beach. If anyone hadn't known better, they would have thought we shot the guy or something. People began gathering around, trying to help this poor man. He was crying hysterically. I thought he was going to _vomit_. We stood there, dumbfounded. Both Marina and I always had a tendency to never know what to do in an emergency.

It's like she and I were sisters, almost. We both like to make things, we both liked to travel. We both got lost in a pineapple field in Hawaii, one time. That's a story for another _internal monologue_. I remember when I taught her how to crochet. She didn't get it at first, but it didn't take her long to figure it out. In return, she taught me how to cut gemstones. They were just so tiny and hard to keep a grip on. I always ended up with crooked and uneven facets. She was able to do it so perfectly, every single time. I could never understand how anyone could be so coordinated.

Hell, we've both been confronted by giant robots to help them carry out a mission. I've thought about how strange that is. That dream the other night has still been bothering me. That couldn't have possibly been something I just… made up in my head. The flashback was just _too_ real. Sentinel was an evil, _evil_ being. Marina was, too. To a degree, so am I. I'm happy they could find peace, though. I could imagine coming to terms with what they've done was difficult. _If_ any of that afterlife stuff is true.

I should elaborate more on what I saw. That flashback was insanely big and it stormed through my head in a matter of seconds. It's taken some time to let it boil down into something I could understand. Sentinel was found on the moon. Everyone knows that. He left his world centuries ago and he crash-landed on the moon. For almost fifty years he was left there. Uncharted territory, you could say. Or that's what everyone was lead to believe. What they always told us is that years after the moon landing in '69, the ship crashed and no one noticed it. It wasn't until the Autobots brought the discovery to light, that the humans learned about it.

 _That was a lie._ That ship was there _years_ before the moon landing. The moon landing happened _because_ of the ship being there. The mission's main goal was to see what was on that ship. I distinctly remember Marina speaking with Sentinel in the flashback and telling him this. By the looks of it, he thought it was a little ridiculous. Who could I ever tell any of this? Who would _ever_ believe me?

When Sentinel was awoken, he didn't have the very best first impression of humans. He wanted his pillars back, but he was immediately berated by humans. He didn't like that. I guess he didn't have a reason to get too attached to Earth. That was until Marina began to work with him. I guess he figured if this entire world was going down, he was going to take the only thing he liked about it with him. For the longest time, I just couldn't remember the name of this event. It's been so many years since it's been brought up to me. ' _The Bridge Crisis_ ' is what it's actually called. How it actually happened turned out to be pretty different compared to what we were told.

There are really important things they completely left out of the history books. Like the death of the weapon specialist and that other bot. The weapons specialist was absolutely loved. His teammates appreciated him, but the humans - not so much. He was loud and rowdy. He wasn't afraid to stand up against someone when everyone else was too afraid to. He seemed like a loyal friend. It's a shame his life had to come to an end. The other bot though, I guess he was ' _too insignificant'_ to note. He was a new guy, if remember that part, correctly. He didn't appear in the flashback, too often. Maybe no one really knew much about him. It still seems wrong to sweep him under the rug like he never existed.

Marina seemed very different in the past. She was almost a _push-over_. I saw her let the Autobots have their way, a few times. She even struggled to control them a few times. She sure wasn't that way when I met her. She was nice and always generous but she knew how to stand her ground. So well, in fact, I always wondered what happened that made her this way. I certainly know, now. One thing I don't get is how touching that shard was enough to brainwash her. It _is_ said that any human that comes in direct contact with these shards basically learns _everything_. But what is ' _everything'_? Everything about the world they come from and what these robots are? If that's the case, then I guess that makes sense.

I wonder what it would have been like if Sentinel never did this. If maybe he had second thoughts about his partnership with the Decepticons. Maybe like his dear friend, he would have seen the beauty and worth of this world. Maybe he would've wanted to protect our kind and protect the Earth. His pride got in the way. He wanted his home back, and he threw away everything for that. That didn't seem like a very smart move, to me. Even if he did succeed, then what? What would fill the void that his team left?

I was caught off guard by a voice.

" _Vega probably has,_ "

Hearing my name broke my train of thought. The gang of bots was looking at me, now.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Have you seen Lockdown take out anyone?" Leadfoot asked.

Every single instance of this came flooding into my mind all at once. "Oh, hell yeah,"

"Decepticons?"

"Too many to count,"

" _Any Autobots_?"

I looked away quickly. I thought for a moment before looking back at them. "Well, I probably shouldn't keep this from you any longer," The cave fell into a grim silence. The room was filled with a tension so tangible; you could cut it with a knife.

I traced my fingers along the scar on my cheek. "He got Dino."

They didn't react the way I thought they would. I was expecting them all to comically recoil back and gasp. That didn't happen. They only stared back at me. They seemed genuinely sad to hear this.

"I didn't see it happen," I began. "It was one of the nights that I was in the hospital."

"So, it was nothing you had anything to do with?" Roadbuster said, breaking the silence.

"I," I took a second to think. I almost felt guilty, but what could I have done? "It wasn't anything I was involved in," I said.

At that moment, I realized why I felt so bad. For the longest time, I wondered why. Dino outright told me he hated me and he even tried to kill me. As horrible as it may sound, I don't feel bad for him. It's the fact that I feel I let them all down. I didn't even tell Ratchet or Sideswipe what really happened to him. I _lied_ to them.

"We can take care of ourselves," Roadbuster muttered. "We don't need you to do it."

"I don't think you're making her feel any better…" Topspin chimed in.

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Leadfoot began. "There is no saving all of us. You're one lone human in a world that's out to get us."

"Right," I sighed. "Can I tell you guys about something?"

This seemed to have caught their attention.

"Like, _what_?" Leadfoot asked.

"Like, a weird dream I had," I began. "You guys were there for the Bridge Crisis; I just want to know how much of what I saw was right."

"Were you at the city?" Roadbuster asked.

"No, not all,"

"Then how could have dreamed about it?"

"That's what I'm wondering," I scratched my head. I pulled my necklace up and showed them the jewel. "Sentinel appeared, and the gem was glowing, and when I touched it, I saw how it actually happened-"

" _Bullshit_ ,"

I tilted my head and gave him a look. Think of the phrase ' _do you fucking mind_?' and the face you would make, saying it. In a way that the other person was genuinely getting on your nerves. That's the look I gave him. Roadbuster stared right back at me. _Stoic_. He just didn't care.

"Can you let her speak, mate?" Leadfoot said dryly. Roadbuster looked at him. His face didn't change. They were like this for a good few seconds until Leadfoot turned to look at me again. He looked _uncomfortable_. Like Roadbuster's gaze had seen into his mind or something.

I continued my story. "For instance, Sentinel's ship was there, long before the moon landing-"

Instantly, all of them were surprised to hear this come out of my mouth. They all immediately knew what I was about to say. They looked a little _spooked_ , in a way, too.

"No one outside of N.E.S.T is supposed to know that," Topspin said. "What kind of freaky dream did you have?"

"If you want me to be honest, I think Sentinel's spirit came in contact with me,"

The three of them exchanged glances. Truth is, they probably thought I was crazy. I felt kinda silly saying it out loud, but it could be the truth. How else did I just suddenly get all of this info dumped onto me? Especially if it's all accurate.

"There's a few pretty important things they didn't include in history books," I began. "The first was, of course, the moon landing, then there was something I heard about your ship being destroyed. Then they tried to paint it like you guys are _refusing_ to leave."

"Don't even get me started..." Leadfoot grumbled.

"You guys had casualties on your team, didn't you? The weapons specialist and some other guy-"

" _Que_ ," The all said in unison.

"The weapons guy was quite something, he seemed like a good friend to you guys, though," I scratched my head, again. "He was shot through the back, and he seemed to have disintegrated-"

"Uh-" Roadbuster tapped his head a few times. " _Cosmic Rust_! That's what it was!"

"I didn't see much of the other guy in the flashback," I said.

"We didn't know much about him," Leadfoot said. "Never came out of his lab."

"He was a weirdo," Topspin added. "He was an interesting guy to work with."

"Well, none of my textbooks in school brought up either of those two, I don't know why they wanted to hide all of that from us,"

"You humans are weird," Leadfoot propped his foot up on a nearby rock. "Speaking of _humans being weird_ , I remember some sort of controversy going around, to deactivate the bridge, they had to destroy the control pillar."

"Right,"

"It's between Ratchet - who you know, and this other guy, Bumblebee. The problem was no one knew for sure who shot it first and which one gets the credit for destroying it,"

"Did... anyone even see it happen?"

"Civilians," Roadbuster answered.

I titled my head. "That's it? Why did it matter, to begin with?"

"Well, the N.E.S.T guys wanted to know for the records,"

I thought for a second. Nothing like that seemed to have rung any bells. I don't recall seeing anyone destroy _any_ pillars in the flashback, as a matter of fact.

"I think Bee did it-" Topspin started.

"You weren't even there for it!" Roadbuster exclaimed.

" _Maybe_ the evidence is compelling-"

" _What evidence_?"

I crossed my arms. "How come I never heard of this?"

"Well, the shut us down maybe a week later," Leadfoot shrugged. "There's no record of who shot it first."

I probably wasn't old enough to care, then. I was barely twelve when this whole event took place. Why wouldn't such an important part of this incident _not_ have a reliable source? Why didn't they just credit them both? Well, it's not like this unit exists anymore, I guess it doesn't really matter. I know for the rest of my life, I always will be plagued with the question ' _who shot first?_ '

Eventually, conversation died down. The three were weirdly quiet. I checked the phone. It was at _forty-four_ percent, now. I'm not gonna lie, I was really tempted to turn it on the power and fiddle with it. It's best if I didn't. I pulled my blanket out of my bag and threw it over me. I laid down and used my bag as a pillow. It wasn't super comfortable, but it was better than nothing. Has it even struck night hours, yet? I wanted to look but didn't wanna waste my battery. I don't know if I'll get over this twenty-four-hour darkness thing.

While my mind was slipping into thought, I realized I actually kind of miss Lockdown. I miss how snarky he gets. I miss how he glares at me when I say something stupid. I miss how weird things would get at the airfield. Maybe it's for the better I get away from them. When his job is done, what would happen to me? They won't just throw me back into civilization after seeing all of this. It's not like I have much control, no matter what I do. I wonder if Marina felt this way?


	23. Terminal Frost

Chapter 23:

I ended up waking up, in the middle of the night. I flicked on the phone and looked at it, but I don't remember what for, exactly. I did remember the time, though. It was around two in the morning, at that point. I fell back asleep. I dreamt I was at a bakery. I was eating macaroons. _Yum._ But that's beside the point. It was a normal dream, for once, which was nice. When I woke up, I noticed the other three were already awake. They were yacking away, like always. I didn't bother to listen in on what they were saying. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I stretched a little.

Then, my stomach growled. I was getting pretty hungry, again. All that food bought was still out on the ground next to me. I didn't bother to put it away last night. I shuffled through the pile a but until I decided on what I wanted. I picked up a chocolate bar. This probably has little-to-no nutritional value, and it's probably not something I should be eating for breakfast, but who's gives a shit? Who's gonna tell me no? _My parents_?

I unwrapped it and took a big bite. It was the first bite of chocolate I've had in awhile. It tasted so rich and sweet. It practically melted as I chewed it. _That's some good chocolate, right there_. I began to fall into the void of thoughts when suddenly I notice Roadbuster turn around and look at me.

"Look who's up," He scoffed.

"Were you waiting on me?" I asked.

"We've been ready to go, for awhile now," Leadfoot said.

"You could have woken me up…" I said, trailing off. Off to my side, I noticed my phone had lit up, suddenly. There seemed to be something on the screen. A couple notification bubbles, it looked like. I thought it was weird since I'm pretty sure Lockdown factory reset it before he gave it to me. There weren't any other apps on the thing and there were no other contacts on it. I unplugged it from the cord and pick it up. They seemed to be alerts for something. There were three of them. Each one of them seemed to have descriptions of vehicles underneath.

The all shared one descriptor in common, I saw. 'Chevy Impala.' Each one of them listed a color and a number.

' _Red - #42'_

' _Green - #88'_

' _Blue - #48'_

I felt my stomach knot up. My thumb flinched, and I scrolled down by accident. I found there was one more. When I read that one, I realized exactly what this meant. My heart dropped.

' _Missing person:_

 _'5'3_

 _Black Hair_

 _Black Eyes_

 _Dark Skin Tone_

 _Red Parka'_

 _That was an exact description of me._

Lastly was a set of coordinates of supposedly my last known location. I couldn't make heads or tails of any of that. I couldn't believe it. My heart rate spiked up. My breathing became heavy. My mind was racing, and everything in front of me was distorting.

"Guys," My voice was shaky. "I think they know I'm with you."

I looked up. I could see the confusion that crossed their faces.

"What makes you say _that_?" Leadfoot asked. Something about his tone of voice made me think he didn't believe me.

"On my phone - there's an alert out for all of us," I said.

The gang exchanged looks.

Then I read out the descriptions. They also began to panic. Before I knew it, we were up and out of the cave in no time. At the exit, I was expecting one of them to sweep me up and transform and then we'd go careening through the snow, again. That wasn't the case. Something seemed to be stopping them. I stood there watching the group. They have this tendency to look at each other, a lot. Almost like they each know what the other is thinking, just by the looks on their faces.

I clearly wasn't getting the message. "What is it?"

"We may have to travel on foot," Topspin answer.

" _What_?!"

"Our engines get loud, if they're on the lookout, that'd be like us _asking_ to be found."

I guess that sounds rational. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of walking through the cold and snow, again. I guess we didn't have a choice if we don't wanna be caught.

"It won't be that bad," Leadfoot pointed off in a direction toward the mountains. "We'll hide in the mountain range, for now."

"They'll have a harder time getting ahold of us, there," Topspin added.

Thus, we began our hike. I hate the cold. We've been over this. I was getting sick of sleeping in caves. I was sick of having one thin blanket to cover up with. I was sick of using my bag as a pillow. I wish I had a bed, again. There's nothing more in the world that I'd like than a bed with nice warm sheets and actual pillows. A nice, thick comforter or a fur blanket would be great. I'd like to have one of those _weighted blankets_ I saw online, one time. They're supposed to help you calm down, is what I heard. I'm getting off topic, aren't I?

I was already getting tired of walking. I noticed the gang was a little on edge. Who could blame them? They knew we had to get out of here, quickly. I don't think we have much time, left. Hopefully, we'll be running off somewhere _warmer,_ back at the mainlands _._ Don't get me wrong, Alaska is a beautiful place. The snow and the forests and mountains are pretty and all, but it's too damn cold for me. Too much snow.

Speaking of snow, I remembered something. This whole time, it was chirping in the back of my mind but I never really thought about asking. Roadbuster was the closest to me, and I called up to him. He turned around and gave me a nasty look.

" _What do you want?_ " He snapped.

"Where did you find race car tires with snow treads?" I asked him.

He looked away. "Can't tell you,"

Just then, Topspin turned around. "We took a trip to the old N.E.S.T base and salvaged them, is all,"

"We raided the old lab," Leadfoot said with a chuckle.

"I can't believe they didn't take our stuff out,"

"Like that punny lock they stuck on the door could keep us out!" Leadfoot let out a loud cackle. The other two bots quickly shushed him and urged him to keep it down.

I looked down and kicked at the ground, a little. What would Lockdown think, if he catches us? What would he think of them? What would he think of _me_?

"Vega, don't look so down," I guess Topspin noticed I was looking upset. "This isn't the first time we've had to shake them off."

"It's not that it's just-" Before I could finish, I noticed the three of them suddenly look up into the sky. I turned around. I didn't see anything. Once again, the three of them exchanged looks.

"You saw that too, _right_?" Topspin asked the other two.

"Oh, hell yeah," Leadfoot babbled.

" _The fuck was that_?" Roadbuster blurted.

"I… don't know, but I think we should keep moving." Topspin said, with his voice a little shaky.

We pressed on. The snow stopped coming down, which was nice. The wind was still pretty bad, though. My face was starting to go numb. We came closer and closer to the mountain range. I could see another town off in the distance, this time there was a big highway that leads into it. We were far away from any roads, luckily. I don't think we were close enough to be spotted by any people or anything.

When we got closer to the homestretch, the mood began to lighten up, which was nice. If this is the case, then these guys must have really been experienced with escaping these guys. There's still one problem though. Lockdown is different. He's not like these units built for getting rid of these guys. Humans have empathy. Humans like to hold back, sometimes. Lockdown, however, _does not._ I'm sure this crowd has done a lot of brawling, in their time, but I still felt a little concerned for them.

I gotta say, I really hate it when get so wrapped up in thought and something comes along to fuck that up. I tripped over a log in the snow. I didn't even notice it was there. It was just barely poking out of the snow. Tripping will surely bring about my death, one day. I can see it now.

"Damn, walk much?" Roadbuster snickered

" _I'll walk my foot up your ass…_ " I grumbled as I brushed the snow off my lap.

The other two then bursted out laughing, at this remark. I won't lie, I cracked a smile when I heard them laugh. It's been awhile since I've hung out with anyone with a sense of humor.

"Oh, you think that's funny?" Roadbuster cried out. The three only laughed harder at their green comrade.

Something about these three seemed so familiar. Like they're someone I've known, before. The relationship the three of them have is relatable, in a way. It's like the group of friends that's that's super tight. They have no problem letting outsiders in, but no one really truly gets them like they get each other. It's almost like that, and I'm just that outsider looking in. Not in a bad, third-wheelish kind of way, though. I've come to find it so amusing just watching these three interact. Then suddenly, at the drop of a hat, that joy turned to terror when I turned and looked off into the distance.

Hovering over the town, I could see the faint shape of a ship sailing through the fog in the sky. The wings were all down, and it made it seem bigger and more intimidating. I could see the faint lights glowing from the engines. It was almost ghastly and a little scary to look at. How loud I gasped made the three bots jump as their laughter was cut short. The quickly looked up and saw it, too. It was the Knightship creeping over the town. The bots all knew what this meant. We've run out of time.

I could hear their thunderous footsteps, like an angry stampede, as they all ran for the mountains without a word. My legs were frozen in place. _Figuratively._ Topspin was the only one to stop and wonder why I wasn't following along. I wasn't sure, myself. I just kind of stood there. He looked at me; I looked at him. It was maybe a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

"Vega, come on!" He finally shouted.

I shook my head. "I'm not going,"

The blue bot was taken aback when he heard this. I can't describe to you the look on his face. How a robot's facial mechanism can display this level of concern is beyond me.

"I'll hold him back," I said.

"Vega, you don't have to do this," Topspin spoke frantically. "If we hide out in the mountains, they won't find us-"

"I'll keep him distracted for a while; it'll give you time to get out of here,"

"You shouldn't be working with him!"

"Listen," I tried to speak as calmly as I could. "I _will_ come back for you guys,"

"Are you sure about that?" He looked away for a second then and then looked back at me. "Will you even be able to?"

"I'll find a way."

He nodded. Then he ran off after his brothers. He didn't seem too thrilled about it, though.

I turned around and watched the ship float over the village. It reminded me of a kite, almost. _A spikey, deadly kite_. First thing on my mind was to ditch this necklace. Starting at the perimeter of the town was a small but dense pine forest. It didn't look to be too far of a hike. I dashed off through the snow and into the woods. I didn't have much time to waste. Minutes past and the trees grew closer and closer. It was a little denser than I thought. Even better.

As I stood at the entrance of the woods, I unlatched my necklace and clutched it in my hand. I took in a deep breath and took a shaky step forward into the forest. It was a little foggy. It gave the area such an _ominous_ feel. I felt a little afraid to press on, but I knew what I had to do. I scanned the area a little. Just a few yards away from me was large, moss-covered rock hidden in the snow.

I dug through the snow a little got a good grip with both my hands along the bottom of it. Using all my strength, I managed to heave it up. I balanced it on its side and laid the necklace down in the damp soil that the rock was covering. I gently laid it back down, and I took a few steps back to look at it. I was trying to remember the surrounding, in case I decided to come back for it. I was a little sad to leave it, but I didn't want to be bringing it onto the ship with me.

I wasn't entirely sold on the idea, myself. If I wanted to keep Lockdown away from the Wreckers, I guess I have no choice. I need to get back on that ship, but how? I sprinted out of the woods and into town as quickly as I could. I came out through an exit at the end of _cul de sac._ There were a couple of homes scattered around. Everybody on that block was out of their houses. The Knightship was now completely over the town. The people who lived here were staring, pointing, taking pictures. Some of them even looked scared. I can't say I blame them, it's safe to say no one has any clue what's going on.

I had no idea how I was going to get all the way up there, while I'm all the way down here. I quickly walked up the roaded and looked around. There were people on-looking, over here, too. Every house, home, and building you could think of was empty. Everyone was outside. As I walked passed them, they didn't even seem to notice me. I looked down and hid my face, a little. Everybody must have gotten that alert, I didn't want anyone recognizing me if they just so happened to turn around and look. Then again, I'm sure there's a lot of girls out there that look like me. I didn't feel like taking any chances, though.

I looked up and saw that just a few blocks away; something was off. The front, the right wing was dangerously close to the top of a building. I didn't think Lockdown was that careless of a pilot. Then again, someone else could have been piloting. I realized that was irrelevant. I took another look at the building, and that's when I got an idea. I took off running down the street. It was at this moment; I began to think of my asthma. It would be pretty bad if now of all times I suddenly couldn't breathe. I had to keep that into consideration.

As I drew closer, I noticed this building had a roof entrance. _Perfect._ The entire building looked a little disheveled. Almost as if no one's been in there for maybe a year or two. That was a good sign, though. That means I wouldn't have to waste time sneaking past anyone. I planned to head to the roof and climb up onto that wing before they're all brought back up. I had to be quick. I wasn't sure how much time I had for this.

I found that the front entrance to this building was chained shut with a lock on it.

" _Fuck,_ " I whispered. There _had_ to be a way in, somehow. I took a glance up. I just wanted to be sure the wings hadn't gone anywhere, yet. I quickly began pacing around the building until finally, I found something. There was a basement entrance on the side. It had two shabby, wooden doors over a concrete border sticking up from the ground. The lock on these doors had been broken, probably by some scrappers or gangbangers.

I leaned over and placed both my hands on the rusted handles. I don't know what I was getting myself into. I took a deep breath before pulling them open. Behind them was a staircase and a door at the very bottom. I stared for a moment, a little unsure if I should really be doing this. I pressed on, though. I carefully stepped down the concrete stairs until I reached the door. The door looked like it was once white. Now it was dirty, stained and the paint was chipping.

I didn't let myself think about it what could be behind this door, too hard. The door opened with a loud _'squeak'_ and the room behind it it was _completely dark_. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't have any source of light. _Or that's what I thought._ The realization hit me like an electric shock. I remembered I had a phone, now. I quickly dug it out of my bag and turned on the flashlight function. I made sure to shine it into each and every corner and crack of this room before I entered.

There was nothing down here, as far as I could tell. A few boxes in one corner. A nest of rats in another. That's a little disgusting, but not really a threat. At the other side of the room was a staircase leading up. I took a step in. I felt a surge of uneasiness spike through me. I was certain I was alone, but it still just didn't feel right. I clutched the phone tightly and took another deep breath. I then took off running to that staircase. I didn't waste any time getting up the stairs, either. It was much better lit in the upper level since there were windows, up there. I still didn't trust the place. I shined my light all around me, making sure nothing or _no one_ was with me.

The room was grey and the floors were cracked. The walls were stripped of their lining and a lot of it was just a lot of _beams_. Rusted and dirty metal beams. If I had to guess, maybe this place was probably an office before it was cleared out. I found another staircase and saw it was pretty much the same on that floor. Just a different layout, is all. There was nothing interesting up here, either. The third floor was the final one. I found a rusted-looking metal door with a sign that read ' _ROOF ENTRANCE'_ in faded letters hanging over it. It looked almost as if it were ready to fall off. But that's beside the point.

I pushed open the door and its hinges let out a loud, whinny, _'creek'_. Beyond that door was a spiral staircase that I assume leads the roof. I scaled that, and _my God_ , it took forever, it felt like. I was finally rewarded with the final exit. The door that'd take me onto the roof… but I couldn't get it to budge. I pushed it with both hands, but it wasn't moving. It was one of those doors with the bar you press to undo the latch. It just wasn't moving, though. The latch may have been rusted.

I put two hands on it and pushed with all my weight. That didn't work. I pushed harder. My feet began to slide back until I finally gained traction, again. I pushed _even harder_ , and then suddenly, I face-planted on the ground. Then came the chilly air. _It worked._ I didn't waste time getting back up to my feet. The wing was still down. It was maybe a few inches over my head at its lowest point. I took a few steps back and I jumped up and grabbed onto the side of it. Using every bit of strength left in me, I began to climb until I reached a relatively flat area on top of it.

I pulled myself up as best as I could before I threw my leg over the side and pulled myself up the rest of the way. I sat there panting for a moment. Then, I realized I probably shouldn't stay here. This wing could honestly go up any second and knock me off. I stood up and caught my breath. I ran until I reached the deck.

I turned around and saw the town below me. The dim light and the soft sky were a sight to behold. It was clearing up, now. I could see the stars. What a view.


	24. Point Me At The Sky

**AN: I threw out my back, last night, 0/10, would not recommend. I guess that means I have time to get this chapter up. I've had this chapter in my doc manager for _fucking days_ , now, I've just been too lazy to revise it.**

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Chapter 24:

If I remember correctly, Lockdown once told me certain parts of the ship are _heavily_ trapped. The thing is, I don't know where these areas are. For all I know, I could end up walking straight into my death. I glanced around over the deck and saw nobody was up here. That's a little weird. A lot of the crew is usually up here working. The ship was moving, not long ago, maybe they all had to stay inside, during the flight.

I've only been on the deck once or twice. I completely forgot about how being on the ship made me feel so _tiny_. Everything here is super-sized. You know when you catch field mice in your basement? You let them go a few meters away from your house, and they just end up coming back? That's what I felt like. I felt like a little mouse sneaking back into someone's home. Hell, I'm even the size of a mouse compared to these guys. The entrance to the landing bay is in a weird spot. I know where it is. It's toward the very end of the deck, but it took me awhile to get to.

It's a lift that takes you down into the landing bay, but the lift is on a big platform. _Great, more climbing_. It's barely been a month, and I think I've done more climbing than I have in my _life_. This one was going to be a little difficult. There wasn't really anything on or around it I could grab onto. I stood there for a second, trying to think. I had to use my noodle, here. I looked around, trying to find something that could be useful in some way, shape or form. I wasn't having much luck. That was until I spotted a big, metal crate just a few meters away. I think that just might be enough.

Chances are, this thing was going to be incredibly heavy. I didn't have any other options, though. I turned around and walked up to it. If it doesn't work, then I guess I gotta think of something else. I paced around it, looking at it from all sides. It seemed big enough for me to at least reach the edge, yet not _too_ big. I think with a little effort; I could climb up onto it. So, I stood behind it. I took a few steps and took a deep breath before charging toward it to give it a good push. Yet again, I found myself face-first on the ground.

I looked up. That crate must have slid like five feet. It wasn't heavy in the slightest. I scampered up to my feet and dusted myself off. I walked over and pounded my fist against it a few times. It was completely hollow. So, I gave it a stiff push. How did this thing not slide off during the flight? As far as I could tell, there's nothing in it. Hopefully, it wasn't going to _break_ when I stood on it. I positioned it below the platform and lucky for me; it held up pretty well when I stood on it.

I had to stand on my toes and stretch my arms as far as they could go to reach the edge of the platform. I got a good grip, and I began pulling myself up. My arms were getting shaky, the farther I went. After today, my arms are probably going to be sore as fuck. I managed to pull my upper body to the platform and flopped down, my legs dangling over the edge. I took a second to catch my breath. I hoisted myself up the rest of the way and laid there, for a moment. I never really considered myself to be a strong person. I don't know how much more of this I'll be able to take.

Right then and there, I decided I'm done climbing for today. That was unless I absolutely _have_ to. I got up to my feet and walked forward. The lift was already up here and I stepped onto the lift. I looked up and realized I had yet another tiny-being predicament. The control panel is almost fifteen feet tall. There was no way I could reach it. Like I said, I'm _not_ climbing anymore, today. It was time to get creative. I dug through my bag. I came across a book I brought from home. I haven't gotten a chance to read it, or anything. What good was it now? I think if I gave this a good, hard throw, it would be enough to set switch off.

I pulled my arm back and took aim. I threw the book as hard as I could. I aimed just a little too high. The book plopped onto the ground and then slid off the side of the platform.

"Fuck!" I shouted. My voice echoed across the deck. It was a little _spooky_.

I was kind of at a standstill, now. I was poking through my stuff for a few seconds when I came across an umbrella. Not a big one, just one of those little compact ones that extend when you open it. Maybe it'd be tall enough to reach the switch. I pulled off the velcro strap and pushed the little button. The umbrella sprang up and unfolded itself with a loud 'whoosh.' I stood on my toes, and with both hands, I held up the umbrella and prodded at the switch. I was already starting to lose my balance, a little. The very tip of it pushed the switch up, and a green light on the panel flicked on. The lift began to drop. It made my stomach flip, as I wasn't expecting it to drop so quickly.

I closed up my umbrella as the lift began lowering into the landing bay. With a quick glance, I found out that this was where all the crew was. They didn't even seem to notice the lift was on. It was pretty dark, down here. I doubt they would have been able to see me up here, anyway. When the lift reached the floor, I stepped off. The landing bay was probably the most industrial-looking parts of the ship. There were so many catwalks, so many platforms and places to go. There were so many bars and beams and balconies.

I took a few steps forward and took everything in. The familiar smell of the ship suddenly became apparent, again. Burning rubber and fuel. There was one other thing in the mix, but I could never figure out what it was. I won't lie, I had no idea where I was supposed to go. There are a few ways to the cockpit; I know Lockdown's told me that much. I knew only one of them, but I don't have much faith in my navigation skills. With the sheer size of this place, I could count on getting lost if I don't plan my steps carefully.

The one way to the cockpit I knew about was through one of the catwalks by the dropship's dock. It takes you into a big corridor, and I think if I could get there, the way would come naturally. The dropship docks on a big, round platform by a huge, open section of the wall. There was a lot of these here. Nothing is separating those sections and the outside world. I could call them windows, but there's no glass over them. That explains why it's so cold, in the ship. There are two catwalks by the dock, the one and only way to get to the dock and the other one leads into the corridors.

Then, I remembered there was one other way to get to the cockpit. It was through that chamber with all those aliens Lockdown was feeding. I... don't think I wanna end up there, again. It's not like I remembered how even to get there, though. That option rules out itself, I suppose. By now, I think I've mastered the art of _not getting stepped on_. When you're walking under these bots, don't focus on where they are, but where they're _going_. I've come to learn you have to predict where they're stepping next, so you don't end up under their feet. They're not really watching out for me, so it's my job to stay the fuck out of their way if I wanna live.

I tried not to make much noise as I was getting through, either. I have no idea how they'd react if they saw me. Would they try to catch me? Would they just kill me? _Would they be afraid of me and scream?_ I came to an intersection in a small-looking area. I had a choice between ramp going down into a darker area, another catwalk leading in another direction, and then ramp going upwards. I chose the ramp. It took me to another ramp. That ramp then took me up to a really high balcony. I was now alone, I guess the crew had no reason to come up here. I had some time to think and unwind. I was a little on-edge with dodging giant feet, is all. On one side was a row of these massive, circular cages, like the ones that Lockdown keeps his creatures in. They were all empty, _thank God_.

It made me think of when Lockdown first brought me here; he had me locked up in that stupid cage. He didn't want me getting my ' _scent'_ everywhere. What are humans supposed to smell like? Do we smell _bad_? I could imagine I don't smell very nice, right now. It's been like _three days_ since I've been near a shower. On the other side of the balcony, I could see the other catwalks below me. As I was walking, I caught sight of the top of something, up ahead. It was below the bridge. I wanted a better look, so I walked up to the guardrail and looked down. The dropship was down there. It was at its respective dock. I turned and looked ahead on the bridge. I wasn't sure how I was going to get there.

I looked back down, and I noticed the number of crew members in this area was dwindling. Almost as if they were clearing out for some reason. _I guess that means fewer feet to dodge._ I ran the rest of the way across the catwalk. I wasn't sure where it would take me. At the end of it was yet another ramp, but this one leads down. Maybe I was getting on the right track, here. I tried to walk down, but my foot slipped. I slid down and landed on my ass at the bottom. After picking myself up off the ground, I saw I had yet another choice. _Left or right_. I chose to go right.

I could see the whole dropship, now. I could make out a clear path to get to it, too. I didn't waste much time. I ran through the area, but it _still_ took me awhile. After taking a few more turns and crossing a few more bridges, I reached the dock. I had to stop to catch my breath a few times, along the way. I hate how long it takes me to get around, on the ship. I really took having Lockdown carry me places for granted, I guess. I stood there for a moment, looking around. Even the dropship was enormous. This thing _ain't shit_ compared to the main ship, but yet I've never seen any aircraft on Earth that compares. I don't think I'll ever get over how massive the Knightship is. It's so big that Lockdown can park a smaller spacecraft inside of his spacecraft.

I figured I shouldn't be wasting so much time. I crossed the final catwalk that leads out of the landing bay. I was in the corridors, now. It was darker than usual. It was unsettling. It was barren here, too. Where did the crew all run off to, suddenly? Part of me was curious, but the other part of me knew I shouldn't really bother. It probably wasn't any of my business, anyway. I found myself getting distracted by the patterns on the wall. Or therefore-lack-of. The pipes just kind of go where ever they want. I always found it amusing to look at as we'd travel around the ship.

I came into an area with even more cages along the walls. This place was familiar. The cages were on the left and dangling over a pit, while on the right were a series of entrances that took you into _even more_ corridors. I took a few steps forward. Through the center of the room was a bridge that leads into an entrance to a corridor. It took me a second to realize, but I remembered what that led to. That was the one area that led to the back room where the Sgt. and his crew were. I thought back to that weird monster we saw, back there. I can't believe Lockdown lets that thing _live_ on his ship.

I was walking as I was thinking about this. Suddenly, I heard a scratching noise. I froze up. It was getting closer and closer. Maybe it was some sort of creatures coming through. Maybe I could've been walking into some sort of trap. I was mortified. What if this _kills_ me? I wanted to run, but I just couldn't move my feet. Then I saw it. Sliding on their paws from around the corner, It was Lockdown's dogs. They came sprinting out of one of the halls and began hurtling toward me. I cried out and tried to run, but they were much faster. Now, there's thing are about six feet tall, just on all fours. They must weight hundreds of pounds because one second I was running and the next I was on the ground. I thought I was dead, for sure. I rolled over to try and save myself, but it immediately began licking my face.

My cries of fear turned to laughter as the robo-dog assaulted me with kisses. The other one came around and joined in too. I could imagine how hilarious this may have looked to an outsider. Some girl rolling on the floor laughing as two giant dogs lick her face. It took me awhile to get them to calm down and stop. I finally managed to get them off of me. I was astonished by their loyalty. They must have missed me or something. How did they know it was me? Maybe they picked up my scent?

I stood up and dusted myself off. The two dogs just looked at me, wagging their tails. I began to wonder what they were doing out here. They are usually always with Lockdown, and they didn't come from the way the cockpit was. I looked up, and I saw something. A figure. It was a few meters away. A large, dark, humanoid figure, peeking out from the hallway the dogs just came from. My heart turned to stone and sank. I took a few steps back, and I held my breath.

The figure came around the corner and revealed itself. It was a matte black bot with bright green optics. He glared down at me… but it wasn't Lockdown. I let out a sigh of relief. Now that I think of it, I recognized this bot. It was that bot that caught me when I was looking for the Sgt. I could recognize him by the way he stared. He said nothing. He did nothing. He just... stared at me.

"Hello," I began to babble. I gave the bot a dopey smile. "I'm just hanging out, don't mind me." I laughed nervously as I took a few steps back.

 _Nothing._

"I'll… just be on my way, don't tell Lockdown you saw me, it's really important he doesn't know yet." He _still_ didn't say anything. I took off running into the hallway. Something about that bot _really_ freaks me out. I kept running until I was sure I had evaded the bot. I checked behind me to make sure he was gone. Hell, he may not have even understood what I was saying, now that I think of it. These bots have their own language, I guess. He probably thought I was crazy.

I stopped running and continued my walking pace. The dogs didn't follow me. At the end of this hall was an intersection. The path split off to the left and right and then there was the entrance to a chamber just ahead. Think of the holding area I was in, but without the cages. You have the long catwalks with the platform in the middle. This one was much smaller, however. Just beyond this chamber and through one more corridor and that's where the cockpit is.

I was a little hesitant to go in. After sheepishly coming through the hall, I stood at the entrance. I caught sight of Lockdown standing at the window, and my heart skipped a beat. I wanted to turn back, but I've already come so far. I took a few steps in and stood by the platform for a moment. I wanted to call his name, but there was a part of me that just wouldn't allow it. I grabbed on to the edge of the platform and pulled myself up. This one was always easy to get up on. I was hoping he'd just turn and see me, maybe.

I stared at him for a moment. Suddenly, he moved, and my immediate reaction was to hide behind the throne. I heard that scratching sound, again. I turned around and there the dogs were, sprinting down the hall. They seemed to be headed for me, again. I could only stand there and panic internally.

' _What the FUCK am I going to do?!'_ I thought. The dogs jumped right up on the platform and began swarming me. They began barking and being loud.

" _What is it?_ " I heard Lockdown scoff.

I squeaked. I could hear his footsteps as he began walking towards us. I had to think fast. I practically dove off the platform and hid underneath it. The dogs hopped off, too.

"What are you looking at?"

I watched the two dogs be dragged out by their tails. They looked up with their sad, puppy-dog eyes. The mech got on all fours, and he brought his head down to look. It took him a second to process it. I watched as his expression turned from confusion to astonishment. He couldn't fucking believe it. After a staredown that went on for an eternity, he snatched me up in his fist.

What escaped from his mouth was just a string of sounds that were the beginnings of words. He wasn't even sure where to begin. He finally managed to sputter out one word. " _How?_ "

"How… what?" I asked.

"How did you get on my ship?!"

I scratched my head. "I told you I was a climber,"

He looked away and shook his head. He brought his hand up and rubbed his temple. "Where were those Autobots taking you?"

I felt my stomach tie itself in knots. "I… I don't know," I fibbed. I guess it was partially true; I wasn't sure what was next once we left Alaska. "But they're gone, now."

He seemed to be getting his thoughts together, now. "There are still people out searching for you-"

"I saw the alert,"

" _How?_ "

I didn't expect him to question it. My eyes wandered around the room as I tried to come up with something. "Well, when I was trying to get up here, a few people stopped me and told me there was a search going on for me..."

His optics narrowed. I don't think he was very convinced. He probably knew that I know more than I was telling him. He didn't say anything for a moment. He stared at me some more. Then finally he spoke, again. "Vega, I'm not picking up an energy signal from you,"

My eyes began to wander, again.

" _You let them take it, didn't you?_ " He said. He knelt and dropped me back on the ground.

I scrambled back up to my feet. "N-no it's just that I hid it, is all," I started playing with a lock of hair that got loose from the wind. "I know where it is; I didn't want anyone else to get ahold of it." That was a lie. I didn't want him to know I was coming.

"Vega, they can pick up the energy signal!" He yelled. "You might as well have just handed to them!"

"It's under a rock in the snow; they might not be able to find it..."

He rubbed his temple, again. He seemed tired. He crossed his arms, and he looked down at me. He looked pretty disappointed in me. "Where is it?"

"Just outside the town," I scratched my head. "In the forest."

He knelt down and snatched me up in his hand, and we left the cockpit without another word. We went back to the landing bay and boarded the dropship. It was kind of weird backtracing, like this. We got their so quickly; it didn't take nearly as long as when I was walking through there, alone. I bet the townspeople were so confused; they had no clue what was going on. First, they see this giant spacecraft come by, and now a smaller spacecraft pops out of it. I wonder what they were thinking? I wonder if they think they're in any danger? Are they? I don't really know, myself. I don't know how Lockdown plans to get ahold of the Wrecker, now.

I didn't say anything to him for the trip. I could tell he was pretty pissed at me. I highly doubt the Wreckers could've gotten the necklace if they even _wanted_ it. Sure, they could pick up the signal, but I don't think they'd think to start pulling up rocks. They didn't seem like a _super bright bunch._ I mean that in the least mean way, possible. Lockdown landed the ship in an empty field next to the town. It was pretty close to the entrance I took. He picked me up and hopped out of the ship before dropping me out on the snow. I landed on my feet, for once.

"Is this it?" He asked. I could tell he was irritated.

"Yeah," I looked at the forest, for a moment. I could still see the fog looming in the trees. A few meters away, I could see my footprints, from earlier. I turned back around and looked at him. "I'll be right back."

He nodded. With that, I followed the footprints back to the spot. Now that I think of it, anyone could've come by and snatched it. My footprints paved whole to it. I felt _stupid._ The rock was in sight, now. I trudged through the snow as fast as I could to it. My footprints were still there, all around the rock. I could even see the mark the rock left when I lifted it and had it up on its side. Good thing hiding it from those guys wasn't really what I was aiming for. I pushed the rock aside, again. There the necklace was. I picked it up and held it in my hands, for a second. The chain was a little caked in dirt, but that doesn't really matter, right now.

I turned around and began to walk back. Suddenly, I heard something.

" _Vega?_ "

I can't describe to you how fast I turned my head.

"Vega, you doing okay?" It was Leadfoot.

"What are you _doing_?!" I snapped.

"Your signal hadn't moved from this spot," Leadfoot began. I felt the ground behind me shake. It was none other than Lockdown. I don't think Leadfoot had a clue.

His visor was down, and it was emitting a soft glow. Suddenly, I saw parts begin shifting around his face and chest area. I wasn't sure what to think. Then, I shit you not; his face suddenly morphed into a fucking gun. I thought I was having a stroke or I was just imagining things. That wasn't the case, though. It was all too real. This gun was _insanely huge._ My jaw hit the fucking floor. Leadfoot, I guess didn't see him, cause he kept on going.

"We thought you were-" Before he could finish, his chest _exploded_. He was hit by a blast from Lockdown's face-gun, and he was blown back a good few yards. The guy was out cold, now. I was dumbfounded. I was just barely able to process what the fuck just happened.


	25. Atom Heart Brother

**Chapter 25: Atom Heart Brother**

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 **AN: What's poppin, everyone?**

 **Sorry for the month-long cliffhanger. I had such a hard time writing this chapter, for some reason. I still hope you find enjoyment in it, nonetheless.**

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Chapter 25:

Roadbuster and Topspin came scrambling out of the brush to aid their fallen brother. They were frantically trying to get him up. He didn't seem to be responsive. He could be dead for all I know. They had no clue what the fuck just happened. They didn't know what to do, at a time like this. Even after a few moments, Leadfoot still wasn't budging. They both looked at me. I guess they were looking for answers. I had nothing to offer them except for my _horrified_ expression, as this wasn't an outcome I anticipated

I was really hoping they would have just left or at least stayed put until I found time to come back to them. I should have known better. I completely forgot about Lockdown, for a second. He was coming up from behind me and the two bots noticed the sound of his footsteps. They both looked up. I turned around and he was standing only a few yards away from me, now. He didn't look too happy. His face was back to normal; it was out of gun-mode or whatever that was. He was still pretty menacing, nonetheless.

He raised his arm toward the sky. A weapon began to assemble over his forearm. Whenever he does something like that, I find it hard to find a good way to describe it. It's like his arm has its own transformation if that makes any sense. A bright light flashed from the center of the now fully functional weapon. The light faded, leaving a soft glow emitting from the inside of it. This cannon was _massive_. After readying his weapon, he looked down on the gang. His gaze was enough to make the bots flinch.

"You couldn't have run away forever, not from me, not even from the humans," Lockdown spoke in a cold, low voice. "I certainly wasn't going to let you get away with my little _vermin_." His optics wandered their way down and onto me. He only took a second to glance at me before looking back up. Something about the way he said that seemed weird, to me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

" _Yours?_ ," Topspin was getting up on his feet, now. "She doesn't belong to you. What do the Earthlings want with you, anyway?"

"Bots like you have no business treading on this planet. They want you gone."

I bet those words cut deep. After all, those years of fighting alongside each other and the humans turned on them. It's still hard to believe something like this would happen.

"They're not looking to have you three killed, yet," Lockdown lowered his cannon. "If you come quietly, then we won't have a problem."

Their faces turned grim. There was no way they were just gonna give up like that. The tension was through the roof, and it was only getting higher.

"They don't appreciate what you've done to their world. They don't appreciate you bringing about the destruction of their civilization," Lockdown glanced at me again. "And they don't appreciate all the times you've snatched up their kind and taken them off."

I felt my stomach tie itself in knots. I can't say I'm surprised that this isn't the first time a human's run off with the Autobots. Roadbuster and Topspin both turned and looked at me, waiting for me to say something. Just something to defend them. I opened my mouth to speak, but I just couldn't think of anything to say, at first. I pondered for a second.

"Lockdown, it isn't like that," It was the only thing I could think of. He didn't even acknowledge I spoke.

They realized it was no use looking to me for help. Lockdown didn't want to hear me, right now. He had a mission. I watched the two Wreckers both assume fighting stances, and I knew at the moment now, it was about to go down. Lockdown took this as an act of defiance. Lockdown's visor came down, and He raised his cannon again. He aimed it right at Roadbuster. The second he saw the barrel pointed at him, he rolled out the way before Lockdown could even fire. A sudden piercing light flashed over a spot on the tree Roadbuster was standing in front of before he moved _._ In a much brighter flash of light, the tree then _exploded_.

The light blinded all three of us. Lockdown didn't seem fazed. His visor must have protected his optics from the light. After a short second, Roadbuster turned around and wrapped his hands around the trunk of what looked like a medium-sized tree. He pulled upwards until finally, it popped up out of the ground, roots and all. During this, Topspin leaped at Lockdown and tried to bring him to the ground, but it was no use. When Lockdown pried the blue bot off, that was Roadbuster's cue to swing that tree like a bat, and it knocked the other mech to the floor. I took that as a cue to take cover. I was up and out of there before Lockdown even made contact with the ground. I scampered off and hid behind a cluster of rocks by a frozen-over stream. It wasn't too far from the fight; I could still clearly see what was going on.

Something didn't seem right, to me. Roadbuster and Topspin were taking a weird approach to attacking him, or at least I thought. They were going in _melee_ if that makes sense. They were using things around them to help them fight, or they were throwing fists. Now, you might not think that's weird, right off the bat. The problem is, _they're both covered in guns_. Did they run out of bullets or something?

I caught sight of Leadfoot at the corner of my eye. He was a good few meters away from, and he was still down. The fight seemed to have moved away from him, which is a good thing. I guess my whereabouts had been completely forgotten about once the fight started. That's fine with me _._ They probably forgot about Leadfoot, too, which isn't a very good thing. I left my spot, and I made my way through the brush to the laying bot. Leadfoot was laying on his side. The wound in his chest had a bit of smoke billowing up from it, still. That blue, fluorescent liquid was still trickling out, a little.

His arm was on the ground in front of him, motionless. I placed my hand on it, and his metal form was pretty warm. I'm not sure how long it'd take for him to cool down if he were dead, but I guess that's a good sign.

"Leadfoot?"

He didn't respond to my voice.

" _Leadfoot!_ "

He twitched a little. I watched as the light from his optics began to illuminate beneath his visor.

"Say something!"

" _What?_ " He grumbled. I let out a sigh of relief. It was good to see him a little bit conscious. He tried to sit up, but the pain of the injury hit him all at once, at that moment. He let out a loud groan, and I tried to hush him.

"Don't move, you're hurt!"

"I see that, now…" He raised his hand up to his face and noticed it was covered in the blue liquid. "What happened-?"

He barely finished his sentence when suddenly, a loud noise rang out. We both jumped at the noise. It was cannon-fire. I turned around and found that Lockdown was responsible for it, but he missed whoever he was firing at. The shot was enough to take a huge chunk of dirt out of the ground only a few feet away from Topspin.

Leadfoot painstakingly managed to roll himself over onto his back. That's when he noticed the fight currently happening. " _What the hell?!_ " He cried out.

"It's gonna be fine, I-"

"What the hell's going on?!"

"Listen, I need you to calm down!"

For some reason, he shot me a really mean glare.

"He isn't looking to kill you guys," I began to babble, "I think if we can get the other two on board, then we can get you guys out of-"

Suddenly, we heard a cry in this distance. I couldn't tell who it was. When I looked, I saw Topspin finally managed to bring Lockdown to his knees. He had his arm locked around his throat - or whatever that part's call on a bot. Roadbuster had the hilt of a blade in his hands and the knife part with plunged into the upper left of Lockdown's chest. I heard Roadbuster cackle as he twisted the blade and Lockdown cried out in pain once more. He began thrashing, trying to break free from Topspin's grasp.

Without thinking of the consequences of running in between a group of fighting robots, I rushed toward them. I heard Leadfoot call out my name, but I didn't stop to look. He barely even knew what the hell was going on. I hate to leave his side, like this.

"Guys!"

Roadbuster and Topspin stopped and looked at me. All three of them looked startled by the sound of my voice. I came to a halt. I don't think I've ever run that fast in my life.

"Don't hurt him!" I said, huffing and puffing. The second I finished that sentence I thought 'it's a little too late to be asking that.' They've certainly done him quite a bit of harm.

They both look astonished, to say the least. Topspin dropped the writhing mech, and he fell to the ground with a loud 'thud.' It didn't matter that they stopped. By the looks of it, it was already too late for him. I wasted no time scurrying to his side. His optics were locked onto the blade that was jammed just below his shoulder. I recognized it as one of his own weapons. Roadbuster must have snatched it off of him. He frantically grasped at it and ripped it out of his metal form.

That blue fluid came _pouring_ out of the injury. In seconds, it was pooling on the ground beneath his chest. Just like that, he collapsed to the ground and tried to cover the wound. I placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to think of something - anything I could do to help him. He pressed his optics shut before opening them again and my eyes met with his. I realized there was nothing I could do for him, now. He shuttered slightly. He was more frustrated than anything. He was upset it had to be this way. Before I knew it, the light faded from his optics.

I took a few steps back and blinked a few times. It took a moment for it to process. My vision began to distort as I felt this _strangling_ anguish rip through my body. Topspin stared at me blankly, while Roadbuster looked like he was about ready to scream. I buried my face in my palms. I stood there for a few seconds. Then, I dropped to my knees, and that's when I began sobbing. I couldn't believe this. This was all my fault. It was _all_ my fault. I should have never left the shard. Now Lockdown is dead and Leadfoot is bleeding to death.

" _What?_ " Roadbuster blurted out.

"Mate-..." Topspin tried to interject.

"Why?!" Roadbuster hollered. "Why are you even upset?"

"It's just-"

"This is the guy has _enslaved_ you, and you think he's worth your grief?"

I wiped my eyes and looked up. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "He was my friend-"

"That isn't what companionship is, mate." With that, the green bot turned and began to walk toward his wounded comrade. "You're better than that."

He had more he wanted to say; I could tell. He chose not to, though. Leadfoot looked befuddled. He still had no idea what was going on. Topspin sheepishly glanced over at me. He didn't know what to say or do for me. I just gave him a short nod, and he left to go aid his brother.

After wiping my eyes once more, I stood up I didn't bother to brush the snow off of me, at first. The cold was the least of my problems, right now. Maybe they were right. I try to see the best in people. I have a track record of befriending the worst kinds of people because deep down, I think anyone can be good. I know people can change. It wasn't uncommon for my friends to turn their lives around after finding someone who believed in them. It's encouragement like that that makes people change for the better. I was hoping Lockdown would be an instance of that. I really did think somewhere inside of him was some sort of good locked away, but I guess I'll never really know.

I joined the other two who were with Leadfoot, now. I had a lot of things going through my mind. The more I thought about it, the more upset I'd become. Now that he's gone, I don't think I can ever get back to my hometown. I'll never go back to the airfield. I won't ever see the Sgt. or the Col. again, either. They were the only two people I could really depend on if Lockdown couldn't help me. That was the closest thing I had to a home, and I can't go back, now.

The Wreckers were chattering away, like always. They were talking about what they were gonna do with Leadfoot and how they were going to bring him to safety. I didn't have any ideas or anything to add, really. Even if I were in a good state of mind, I'd still be at a loss for any plans. I was still lost in thought. I'll always be a fugitive, I guess. I'll always have people after me. At a time like this, I wish I could just disappear.

I noticed Leadfoot had a weird look on his face. He just looked... confused, for a second there. He seemed to be looking at something I didn't really get to see what, though. My attention was suddenly caught when I noticed a patch of light flicker over a spot on Roadbuster's back. It was like a flash of lightning. I don't think the others noticed it. Then came the sound. With a thunderous _'crack'_ came an even larger blast of light that blinded all of us. A horrible scream of pain came from the bot and when the light faded, he stood there, frozen.

Whatever hit him left a massive mark on his back. It was a huge circular burn. His metal was scorched black, and it was warped from the impact alone. It's like time froze, at that moment. The three of us were left _befuddled_. Roadbuster fell like a tree trunk, and the ground rumbled from the impact. The pure, unfiltered fear on Topspin's face was disturbing. I can barely describe it. I don't think I've ever seen fear like this plastered on another living being's face in my entire life. He knew damn well what just happened. I knew it, too.

He hesitated for a moment to look. He tried to hide his terror before turning around. I did the same. In the distance, was a tall, dark figure. His face was masked in a hazy, green glow.

I couldn't believe it.

Lockdown wasn't dead. He was back up, now. He was a little bit hunched over, and he was gripping the wound on his chest. From where we were standing, I could see the barrel of his cannon had smoke smoldering up out of it. He lowered his arm and the weapon practically disintegrated. It fell apart into pieces that scattered onto the ground. He flexed his hand a little bit, probably getting used to the feeling of it being exposed, again. He began moving toward us.

He walked right up to Topspin, who tried taking a few steps back. Every step he'd take away, Lockdown would only come closer. Topspin's cannons flick upward, and I could hear a slight high-pitched whine as they charged up. _He chooses now of all times to use his guns?_ In a quick motion, Lockdown locked his fingers around the posts that the guns were on. With a bit of effort, he ripped them straight off of the blue bot's shoulders. Topspins stumbled back a few feet. In an even faster movement, yet another weapon began to assemble over his fist. In the quick second that I could see it, I noticed it looked kind of like a brass knuckle.

He quickly swung his fist with the knuckle and gave Topspin a right hook straight to his abdomen. A huge electric shock erupted from the weapon and Topspin convulsed a little before the shock subsided and he fell to the forest floor. That was it. _It was over._

"Lockdown…" I whimpered. He brought his visor up, and he looked at me, visibly confused. "What have you done?"

"What do you want with us?!" Topspin choked out as he rolled onto his back. He was trying to get back up, it seemed.

"I could not _possibly_ care less about any of you," Lockdown planted a foot on the bot's chest, pinning him back down. "You're only alive because you're going to tell us where Prime is."

" _Piss off._ "

Lockdown scowled at hearing this.

"Vega, why did you go back?!" Topspin shouted.

"I was trying to save you!" I didn't know what else to say to him. This plan hadn't worked out like I thought it would.

"I knew she would return," Lockdown spoke. He took his foot off Topspin's chest and turned toward me. "You're a fool, Vega. I know it's within your nature to protect those you've perceived are the innocent, but you would have led me to them one way or another. You know I'd come for you."

"Don't listen to him," Topspin growled.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Vega. I'm sorry you were left to die," For once, I could tell he actually felt bad about something. "I couldn't save you then, but I will save you now. It's time for you to come home."

Topspin had lost all hope, at this point. I've only known him for a short period of time, but I can't describe how distraught I felt letting him and the others down like this. I had no other options, at this moment, but I'll find a way to fix this.

I gave a short nod, and in a whisper, I said.

" _Okay."_


	26. Bring the Boys Back Home

**AN: Jesus Christ, these author's notes are starting to reach My Immortal levels. It won't be long until I'm calling you all preps and I'm screaming at my best friend to gimme back my poster.**

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Chapter 26:

I had a hard time sleeping, last night. I felt terrible for a multitude of reason, but I don't wanna go on about that. Lockdown and I were back at the Knight Ship, now. The Wreckers were all taken here, too. Lockdown said something about them being thrown into an imprisonment chamber or something. He said maybe five words to me before he left for the medbay. I didn't see him for the rest of the night, after that.

I hate waking up to darkness. I can't wait for that to be over. The cockpit's lights were on. It was nice, but it felt like night. I used to really love the night time, but I don't know about that, anymore. It's like spending three consecutive days with the sun out. You get sick of it, after awhile. When I woke up, I was on my spot on the armrest of the throne. It was cold but not as cold as it was in the caves we slept in. I took that jacket off, last night. Even without that, it wasn't too bad. It was better than sleeping outdoors. I wonder if that guy back at the base wants this parka back…

That doesn't really matter, right now. I sat up, and Lockdown was wide awake. He was messing with his screen, doing some sort of work. I have no idea what he could constantly be doing with that thing, but _whatever._ He seemed tired, but I can't explain how. He just kind of _looked_ that way. I guess it was his slouchy posture and the look in his optics. He had his elbow on the other armrest he had his head leaning on his hand. He didn't sleep; I bet you.

It didn't take long for Lockdown to notice I was up. He boredly glanced at me for a second before bringing his attention back to his work.

"We're going back to the airfield, today,"

I was a little relieved to hear this. "Right,"

"It won't be any time soon,"

"When do you think we're leaving?"

"Whenever Gunther is done with his _bullshit_ ,"

" _What?_ "

"Reports," He was getting a little snappy. Now is probably not a good time to be asking all these questions. "They're writing up reports."

"Oh, yeah, that's right." I looked away shyly. Suddenly, I just really started to miss seeing the morning light. We would be home soon, though. Home and away from this frozen wasteland. Alaska is a pretty place and all, but I don't like this area. I've read about how it gets dark for months, here and I always thought it'd be cool to experience. I was _dead-ass_ wrong. That seems to be a selfish thing to be worrying about, right now. My friends are locked up in the ship, and I need to find a way to solve this.

"Vega," Lockdown pushed his screen away and sat up. "I need you to do something."

This broke my train of thought. I tilted my head and gave him a puzzled look.

"Those rogue Autobots? They'll listen to you," He began. "I want you to go back there and groom them - tell them _anything_ to get them to speak."

He picked me up and put me down on the floor without really waiting for me to say anything. He then waved his hand and _shoo-ed_ me of like a little bug. _Are you kidding me?_ What the hell did he mean by ' _grooming'_ them? Does he want me to lie to them? Does he want me to _threaten_ them? It's not like it matters, anyway. I climbed down off the platform. My boots made a loud ' _click'_ that echoed throughout the cockpit. I took a few steps before realizing I don't know where the hell I should be going. I turned my head to say something. Lockdown was getting up, I saw.

"Where am I going?" I called out.

He looked at me. He was definitely exhausted. He must have spent the night awake. He didn't wanna put up with my shit, I could tell. He then started glancing around the room until his optics wandered onto one of his robo-dogs by the throne. The mech whistled, suddenly. Only one of the dogs perked up. He then spoke to it a language I couldn't understand. It took me a moment, but I realized it sounded similar to what those Decepticons were speaking when we got _jumped_.

The mecha dog got up and walked passed me. He got about halfway down the hall before stopping to stare me down.

"It's going to take you there," Lockdown said as he turned to face the window. I took a quick glance and caught sight of the outside world. We're over the town, still, I just realized.

The dog was eyeing me, still. So, I dashed down the hall and caught up with him. He walked at my side instead of in front of me. It was fine and all, but sometimes he'd walk right into me and punt me out of his way if we were making a turn. He was more of a guide, rather than a leader. As we made our way around, I realized something. I'm not sure what was going on, but there were crew members _everywhere_. I would have figured they would have gone to the deck or something, since the ship has been parked, for so long. It was actually a challenge to not get stepped on, I must admit.

Both me and the dog managed to survive. They all seemed to notice the dog, but they didn't really bother to mind me. It's like I'm invisible to them. Well, all of them except for that _one_ bot. You know the one. I caught sight of him, but for once, he didn't seem to notice me. Another uncomfortable situation avoided, I suppose. We reached a corridor that was pretty dark. The dog didn't seem to mind, though. I realized his optics could glow, too. They were red and beady. How could something so mean and vicious-looking be so cute and loveable at the same time? Our walk was interrupted when the dog ran ahead, suddenly. He ran into a chamber and looked around. He must have been scouting the area. Suddenly, I heard a voice with a thick Scottish accent cry out:

" _WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!_ "

Do I even have to mention who it was? I picked up the pace and jogged up to the chamber. I poked my head in. They were. All three of the Wreckers, each locked up in a cell. The cells were around a weird pillar in the center of the room. It seemed to have some sort of panel on the side of it. I noticed Roadbuster was to the right of the entrance. Topspin was to the left, and you guessed it - Leadfoot was in the center cell.

They seemed to be _befuddled_ by the presence of the robot dog. He was just standing there, looking them all down, but I could hear Roadbuster shouting at him. What is that bot's problem? The second I set foot into the chamber, it's like they instinctively knew who it was.

"You _moron!_ " Roadbuster cried.

"Vega, you dumbass," Topspin added.

"Goddammit, Vega," Leadfoot scoffed.

I was offended by this. It was like being the middle school push-over and walking into a classroom full of punk-ass kids. " _What the fuck did I do?_ "

"If it weren't for you leaving that shard, we wouldn't be here!" Roadbuster blurted.

"I-I realized that but-!"

"You better do something!"

"I can get you out of here!"

" _Can_ you, now?" Leadfoot chimed in.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure if I can get you to the deck, then you can escape-"

"And you think Lockdown's just gonna _let_ us?" Topspin said.

"Well, of course not," I began "I was thinking we find a way to distract the crew and maybe get them all into one part of the ship-"

" _We_?" Roadbuster sneered.

"Will you let me finish-?"

"I think she's on to something," Topspin was the only one backing me up, here. _What a homie._ "What kind of distraction are you thinking, are you gonna smash something or-?"

"Maybe set off an alarm?"

"We could have her plant a bomb," Leadfoot said. Everyone turned and looked at him, a little confused. I didn't take a good look at him when I first walked in. At that moment, I just then noticed the hole in his chest was crudely patched up. It was probably done by the medical crew before they locked him up. He a least looked like he was getting by.

"Hear me out, here; the sound will get their attention," While Leadfoot was speaking, he was making all kind of hand gestures. "And then the damage will keep them occupied!"

"Shit, that's right!" Roadbuster holler.

"Keep it down!" I shouted.

"Right…"

"Where the hell are we gonna get a bomb, though-?"

The second I got out the first syllable of that sentence, I noticed Leadfoot pull something off his hip. A small, cylindrical object. Before I even finished the sentence, he tossed it, and it rolled across the floor and stopped at my feet. I bent down and picked it up. It was _pretty_ heavy.

"So, how does this work?" I inquired.

"Pull the pin up on the top and set the timer," He answered.

I observed it for a moment. It was smooth and mostly chrome. It looked like a pipe bomb, almost. It was pretty big, bigger than both my palms combined. As I said, it was heavy, too. On the top, there was, in fact, a little pin, but it wasn't like a hand grenade pin. It was kind of like a latch, almost. Next to it was a button and below that button, on the round side, was a little screen. This must have been for setting the timer. I looked up and glanced over the gang. They were all focused on me and the object in my hands.

"Did any of you see how Lockdown closed the cells?" I asked. Roadbuster and Leadfoot immediately looked to Topspin. He was the only one who wasn't out cold when we brought them up here.

"He pulled a lever," He pointed toward the big pillar in the center of the chamber. "Somewhere in the terminal, there."

A thought crossed my mind, all of a sudden. I bit my lip, and my eyes began to wander. "I… I think we have a problem, you three," The three fell silent. "He's probably going to come right back for you guys, once he realizes you're gone."

The three of them exchanged glances. Then Topspin spoke.

"I'll stay,"

" _What?!_ " The other two shouted in unison.

"Well, you guys aren't really his target, he just wants to know where the leader is," I said.

"Right," Topspin began. "If he has just one us, then that might be enough, for now. What I need to do is waste his time and spin him in circles for awhile, and when he gets bored with me and comes for you guys, you'll be long gone, by then."

"So, what you're saying is you want us to leave without you?" Roadbuster asked.

"Exactly,"

"How do you plan to escape?" Leadfoot inquired.

"Don't worry about that," The blue bot assured.

"Are you sure?"

"We don't have time for chatter. Vega, go put that bomb… _somewhere_. I'm sure you'll think of something."

I nodded. With that, I quickly left the chamber, clutching the large explosive in my arms. I felt a little nervous about carrying and actual fucking bomb. I really hope I don't set this thing off by mistake. I wasn't sure where this thing was going to go, in all honesty. The dog guided me out of the corridor. I wasn't sure where to go, from there. When I stopped, the dog stopped. I looked around, trying to think of _something_. It had to be somewhere where I wasn't going to be spotted. I doubt I'd really be noticed, but you never know. I still don't want any witnesses. I turned and looked at the robo-dog. He sat down and blankly stared back. Well, as blank as the face of a dog made of metal could look.

"I only I could find a… maintenance room or…" I babbled to myself, trailing off. I noticed the dog titled his head, a little. I was confused by this at first.

"Maintenance room?" I repeated. The dog jumped up and took off down the hall. I guess he can understand me. I ran after him as fast as I could with the bomb in my arms. I wonder why Lockdown trained his dog to understand English when that's not even his native language. Is this the only other language the dog can understand? What if it knows more Earth languages?

After a moment of running, I came to found I may have lost him. I stopped at a four-way intersection that leads into three other corridors. There were no signs of that damn dog. I had a one-in-three shot at getting it right. I took my chances, and I decided to go left. This was a part of the ship I don't think I've ever been in. I've seen the holding areas, I've seen the landing bay, but I don't think I've ever been anywhere near maintenance.

The sound of my footsteps was beginning to be drowned out by the sounds of the inner workings of the ship. The floor just seemed to be… rattling. I could hear the sounds of what assume to be the engine. It sounded a little muffled, and it seemed to be coming up from the floor. Maybe it's on a level beneath this one. The corridor gradually became more and more industrial looking. It's like the walls had been ripped off and the everything that goes inside them was on the outside, now. Wires, pipes, beams. Things like that. It kind of reminded me of what the prison halls looked like, but a little less finished.

A loud ' _bark'_ echoed through the corridor, and I almost jumped out of my skin. This caused me to almost drop the bomb. _Almost._ It fell out of my hands, and it scrambled to catch it. I made the mistake of grabbing it by the pin. It popped right up and long, loud 'beep' rang out, signaling the explosive was active.

"Oh, you've _really_ done it this time," I uttered to myself. I grabbed the bomb by the base and brought it up to look at it. The screen had a flashing _'00:00'_ displayed on it in bright red. I frantically looked around trying to think of something. Maybe I could just hide it somewhere out here _. There had to be somewhere to put this thing._

Then, I remembered the steam tunnels. Like the ones I tried to hide in when I first got here. _Perfect._ I walked to the wall to my right, and as I did this, I tried to figure out the timer. As I was fiddling with the knob, it popped up. It was able to be twisted around, now. Spinning the knob to the left made the minutes increase while spinning it right made them go down. So, I set the timer for twenty minutes and pushed the knob down. The seconds began to countdown. That should be enough time to get back to the cockpit.

I peeked into one of the crevices along the wall. This one was _cluttered_ with wires. I could go look for another spot, but I don't want time. I have to be careful where I leave this. If any of these wires start sparking, it might set it off. I don't wanna end up losing an arm, today _._ I noticed there was a small opening on the other side. It was out of the way of the wires, but I had to be careful. I didn't wanna touch any of these wires and end up frying myself by mistake.

I knelt down and placed the bomb on the floor. I slipped my hand beneath the nest of wiring and pushed the bomb in place. It took a bit of concentration, but at least I didn't die. I looked hidden, almost. Maybe if anyone happened to look back here, they wouldn't spot it at first glance, I think. That probably won't be an issue; I haven't seen another soul in this area, yet. I don't wanna waste any more time. I jumped up and went to turn around and much to my surprise, _there the dog was_. I won't lie, he caught me off guard and scared me, a little bit. He had his head tilted, again. He was probably wondering where I went and why I stopped following him.

I placed a hand on his head and gave him a quick pat. "Can you take me to the cockpit?"

He turned around and ran down the hall. I sprinted after him.


	27. Brain Damage

**AN: Sorry for the unplanned hiatus. Things have been rough, but I think I'm ready to finish this bitch. I've gotten a lot of really nice reviews lately, and I super duper appreciate that. I hope you guys are ready for the rest of this ride.**

 **I realized chapter 19 was cut off cause fanfic . net doesn't want me to be happy. I recommend you go back and read that chapter, again. There was a lot of insight that the doc manager told me to go fuck myself with and didn't bother to save**.

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Chapter 27:

We were almost back to the cockpit when suddenly the dog stopped in his tracks. I didn't know what to think of this. His tail went between his legs and he took a few steps back before running into the cockpit, _full speed ahead_. My heart dropped. Something must be wrong. I chased after the dog and when I came in, I caught sight of the dog rushing up to the window. The throne was blocking my view, I wasn't sure what he was looking at, at first.

When I got close enough, I rounded the corner of the throne and I could see, now. I let out a loud gasp. It was one of those moments where it felt like time had stopped for a second. The two dogs were sniffing and pawing at Lockdown, who was face-down on the floor. _Unconscious_. I sprinted over to the ebony mech. _What could have happened to him, this time?_

I was praying he wasn't dead, or anything. I don't need this two times in one day. Then, suddenly I had to halt. I didn't get very close to him before I watched the dogs leer over, one of them let out a deep, throaty growl. Their ears were down and their tails were between their legs. They were frightened and trying to protect their master. They knew something wasn't right.

I had no idea what to do, now. Surely, these guys weren't going to let me get any closer. I looked around frantically just looking for some sort of revelation. For just something to come to me. Something; _anything_. I was at a loss for ideas. It felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest.

"Lockdown?!" I sputtered out. "Are you okay?"

He remained unresponsive. _This isn't good._

"Lockdown! Please don't be dead!" I shouted a little louder.

I watched as his metal hand slowly come to life as it clenched into a fist. I held my breath. After a moment, he slowly began to lift himself off the ground. He rolled over and sat up. He seemed so _out-of-it_ as he looked over the cockpit. His face was just so blank. It's like he was in a trance. He didn't seem to know what was going on, really. One of the dogs snaked his muzzle beneath his hand and lifted the bot's arm over his back as if he wanted to be petted. Both of them looked happier, now. They were wagging their tails and looking up at him. This didn't seem to break him out of his trance.

"Are you okay?" At the sound of my voice, his head quickly turned to my direction.

He blinked a few times before answering. "I haven't recharged since you went missing," He then looked away.

" _Three days_?" I asked.

He nodded.

"You need to get some rest then,"

"I _was_ ," He began. "That was until _you_ woke me up."

"Sprawled out on the floor like that?"

He didn't say anything.

"I'm pretty sure you passed out - or shut down or something,"

As I said this, he stood up and walked to the throne before practically collapsing into it. I sat down by the window. The town was pretty calm, now. I don't think anyone was outside. Maybe they all went home. I guess the thrill of a flying ship over the village had worn off. I turned around to look and Lockdown was out like a light, I tell you. It's been maybe thirty seconds and there he was, asleep already. I envy anyone who's able to fall asleep so quickly. I could be tired from a whole entire trip, one day, and it'll still take me like an eon to get to sleep.

He was kind of slouching in the throne, which is funny when you think about it. How does something entirely made of metal really have the elasticity to _slouch_? However he came into existence, he must have been built with a lot of mobility. Whatever created him wanted his kind to be able to move around well, I suppose. I guess there's a lot of benefits to that no matter what kind of being you are. I could imagine being stiff and stationary would really _blow._

Speaking of blowing - well, I think I could've used a better phrase than that. But, back on topic, the floor suddenly rattled. The dog's ears raised. I turned to the exit of the cockpit, where the sound was coming from. The bomb must have blown. That's where I was going with that statement, a second ago. Lockdown didn't even flinch. _Amazing_. With how tired the poor guy was, I don't think he'll be getting up, anytime soon. Yet, I was feeling hesitant about leaving, though. What if he _does_ wake up? I'd have to be fast, I guess. The Wreckers are counting on me.

I stood up. I didn't really remember the way back to the prison. I glanced over to the two dogs who were both lying down only a few meters away. They didn't seem to give a shit about the explosion, either, really. I remember Lockdown doing _something_ to get the one to follow me. I thought for a second. I scratched my head. I don't really remember much from earlier. I glanced at the dogs one more time, and then suddenly, it hit me. I took a breath and then I whistled. This caused one of them to stand up at attention.

My face lit up with happiness. I didn't really know what I was expecting when I did that, but I'm glad it worked. The dog stepped over his comrade who didn't even stir at the sound of the whistle, either. I kind of like these pups. They kind of have that _'not my fuckin' problem'_ mentality, it seems. He walked up to me with his tail raised. But, now I wasn't sure how to get him to take me where I need to be. There are hundreds of prisons on the ship, and I don't know what Lockdown told him to get him to respond.

"Uh, prison?" I babbled.

The dog cocked his head a little.

"Prisoners?"

He sat down and just stared at me.

"Captives?"

His ears perked. I think I found the magic word.

"Find the captives!"

He jumped up and sprinted to the exit. I followed along. I'm not too good at recognizing any landmarks or anything of the sort. I was really hoping there weren't any other hostages on the ship that I didn't know about or anything. The corridors were completely empty. Leadfoot was right. They probably all were checking out the damage. I probably don't have much time, considering how small the bomb was. They were probably going to be in and out and back around the ship. The dog and I reached a corridor that was dim and dark. It seemed familiar. We must have been heading the right way, now.

The dog raced ahead. This must have been it. When I entered, the three of them all looked down at me. They must have been waiting.

"Ready?" I said, looking over the bunch.

"Ready as we'll ever be," Leadfoot said.

I looked up and down the large terminal in the center of the chamber. I took a few steps toward it to get a better look.

"Lockdown closed the cells with a switch, right?" I asked. I turned to Topspin, as he was the one who answered me, earlier.

"Yeah, a lever," He replied.

"What side?"

"Uhhhh," He placed his hands around the bars and leaned in to get a better look. He then slipped his arm through and pointed to something. "That side, I think."

He was pointing to the side opposite to where I was standing. I walked around it. It was full of switches and screens of all sorts. I wasn't really sure what to make of it all. When I reached the other side, I quickly began my search. The panels were crammed with those levers and buttons. I wasn't prepared to start guessing. Who knows what the rest of these do? I scratched my chin and turned back around to Topspin. He was still looking.

He must have had an 'Ah-ha' moment, suddenly. I watched his face light up and his arm shot back up and he shouted: "Those ones there!"

He pointing at a set of switches that were towards the middle of the pillar. In other words, a place I couldn't really reach. I groaned. That's the struggle of living amongst giant robots. I'm not a very tall person in general, either. I took a few steps back. The switches were maybe seven feet up. It was nothing like the elevator switch up on the deck. If I could just unlock one, then I'd be set. I have this tendency to look around when I don't know what to do. I was hoping for some sort of object I could throw or a pole or something I could flip the switch with. But it was a fruitless effort. I'd have to get creative on my own, again.

I tried to reach up and at least see how far I could get. I stood on my toes and my fingers were just able to graze the switch I was aiming for. I jumped up a little and managed to push it up just a little. _Close, but not quite._ So, I reached down and plucked my boot off my foot. Once again, I got up on my toes, but this time batted at the switch a little with the heel of my boot. I was able to push just a little bit more. It was about halfway, now. I came back down and crossed my arms before letting out a small huff.

The three bots looked a little puzzled. The dog rounded the corner and that caught my eye. Then suddenly, it came to me. _I think I have an idea._ I dropped my boot on the floor and slipped my foot back into it before patting my lap and beckoning the dog to come to me. He moseyed on over and sat down. I pointed at the switch.

"Up!" I exclaimed.

He stared blankly.

I began to pat the spot I wanted him to get up on. "Up, up, up!"

He stood up and he took his sweet time walking up to the terminal. He then got up on his hind legs and jumped up on it. That alone was enough to flip the switch and with a loud ' _click'_ followed by the sounds of the bars raising, Roadbuster's cell was open, now.

"Nice thinking!" He said. It was kinda cool hearing praise from him, actually.

I was thrilled to bits. "Can you get Leadfoot's cell?" I looked up and asked him. I reached over and pet the dog's head once he came back down.

He gave a short nod and leaned over to flip that switch. With a similar ' _click'_ and the rattling sound of the bars raising, Leadfoot's cell was now open, too. Leadfoot stepped out and he outstretched his arms before groaning.

"Good luck, you guys," The three of us turned around at the sound of Topspin's voice.

"Are you sure about this?" Roadbuster's voice sounded a little shaky.

"You don't have to stay behind-" Leadfoot added.

"Don't worry about it," Topspin assure.

"It's going to be okay, I promise," I said. The other two turned and looked at me. "You'll be back together as a team, again,"

"Right,"

"We're still going to worry, mate…-" Leadfoot muttered.

"You don't have time to waste, you three," Topspin interrupted. He sounded like he desperately wanted to get them free. "You need to go."

"Right," I said. I motioned for the two to follow me. I felt sad. Like, really, really sad. It's not just the fact that I'm never going to see these two again. It's also the fact they have to split up. It made me feel really bad. Maybe there's another way to solve this, but, for now, it has to be this way, I suppose.

I took a few steps out of the chamber. The halls were still clear. Then, I realized I had no idea where I was going, again. Luckily, the dog seemed to have read my mind or something, cause he came booting me out of his way to walk out into the corridor. He stopped to look at me, waiting for my command.

"Landing bay?" I spoke. The dog's ears perked, again, and he began making his way down the hall. The bunch of us followed along. Two mechs, a robo-dog, and human. _What a gang._

The landing bay was completely abandoned. Just like earlier. Quiet, too. Too quiet, if you ask me. We didn't waste much time hurrying to the lift. This dog seemed to know his way a little better than I did. He's probably been through here _God knows how many times_. We didn't waste much time dilly-dallying, trying to find out what goes where. It was an in-and-out job. Surprisingly, the dog stuck with us throughout the whole trip, he didn't just wander off, again. He even hopped onto the lift with us. The two bots seemed leery of him, still. When the dog got on, I watched them both take a few steps back and leer at the dog with caution. Almost like they were expecting him to jump up and bite them or something. I didn't question it, now wasn't the time for that, really.

Roadbuster reached over and flicked the switch on the panel with ease. The little green light switched on and the lift abruptly began to shoot up toward the deck. I stumbled and almost lost my balance. I think the dog almost fell, as well, I could see him bumbling around for a second from the corner of my eye. The cold air hit me like a bulldozer. I caught a quick chill and I shuttered a little bit. The wind was really harsh. We were here now. This was the deck. I could feel my stomach knotting up, again. This was it. My throat began to get that weird tight feeling in it. Like I was ready to cry or something. I felt nervous, on top of it all, too.

" _Vega_ ,"

I was snapped out of my trance when I heard the voice of the green bot in front of me.

" _Thank you._ "

I smiled a stupid grin with tears in my eyes. Roadbuster sure is an asshole, but I can't say I'm not happy to have saved him and his brother. This means goodbye; not just for me, but for the group of them. I knew one thing was for sure, I was going to make sure they'd be back as a group, again.

"Good luck, you two," I said. "Topspin will be alright."

"We're counting on you, girl," Roadbuster replied.

I could see the faint glow of the town's light radiating up from under the ship. It was actually kind of pretty. I glanced around before I spoke, again.

"How are you going to get-" I saw a twinkle in Leadfoot's visor. Then, he immediately booked it to the edge of the deck. Before I could even finish the sentence, he leaped off. "... _down_?" Then came a loud ' _thud'_. My jaw dropped. _Holy shit, did Leadfoot just fall to his death?_

I heard Roadbuster chuckle, a bit. "He's fine."

That was the last thing he said to me before he walked to the same ledge Leadfoot ran to in an almost casual manner. He stepped off and dropped down like a brick on the ocean. When he landed, the thud seemed to be significantly less loud, this time. When I walked up to the ledge, I noticed that the two had landed on an empty street by that building I went through to get into the ship.

Leadfoot was just finishing getting up off the ground, and he was dusting the snow off of himself. Roadbuster was standing there, arms crossed, just watching him. He leaned back and looked up and he caught sight of me from on the ship. He nodded to me and gave me a thumbs up before the two of them ran off and disappeared into the dark, black, snowy night.

It was over, now. They were safe for the time being, at least. I turned around to see the dog laying down on the lift platform, his tail swishing back and forth. I joined him on the lift and pulled out my umbrella and used it to flip the switch, again. The green light flicked on and I was once again thrown off balance when the lift began to drop. My heart dropped faster than the lift did when I found myself almost falling off the edge. I was somehow able to avoid the premature fatality when I found my balance, again. _That was too damn close._ The dog didn't have a problem, this time, since he was laying. _Lucky little bastard._

When the lift reached the landing bay, the dog stood up and looked at me.

"Could you take me to the cockpit?" I said. He began walking and thus began our journey back, once again.

I couldn't believe it. Lockdown was _still_ out cold when we got back. Even after a whole-ass explosion, he was still sleeping. You would have thought that someone would have come and said something to him, by now. _Guess not._ I was kind of at a loss for what to do, here. Part of me said I should wake him up so it doesn't seem suspicious. The other part of me is saying I should let him sleep so I don't give myself away. So, I waited. I sat and looked out of the window, for a moment. It's not like there was anything new to see, here. It was still a beautiful night, nonetheless.

I didn't have to wait long until a few mechanics came running in. I'll admit, it startled the hell out of me when I heard their thundering footsteps come rushing down the hall. I jumped up, not knowing what was going on, at first. They frantically woke the sleeping mech up, and he wasn't too happy about it. It was actually kind of funny watching him slap one of the mechanics hands away as he demanded the meaning of this. They began speaking to him in that weird language of theirs. I couldn't understand a word, but my guess is that they were telling him what just happened. He listened to them intently, for a moment. After he nodded and said something to them, the bots left the cockpit without another word.

Lockdown slouched back into his throne and shut his optics. He went to say something but it took him a moment to get it out. "A fuse blew, and there was an explosion," He said in a gruff voice. " _Why didn't you wake me?_ "

I froze up for a second. He lifted his head and his optics were locked onto me, now.

"I... couldn't get you to wake up," I fibbed.

" _Whatever,_ " He mumbled like he thought it was my fault or something. Well, it absolutely fucking _was_ my fault. The explosion, I mean. It's his own fault he didn't wake up.

"How bad was it?" I asked.

" _Bad,_ " He said dryly. "It's not going to prevent us from getting home, though,"

"Good to...-" I was interrupted mid-sentence by an oncoming yawn. "Hear..." I said letting out a deep breath.

He opened his left optic to look at me. " _Get some rest, will you?_ "

"Good idea."


	28. Breathe

**It's me, bitch. Bet you thought I was dead. Idk why I stopped writing this, but I remembered it was a thing, the other day. Let's get to it.**

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Chapter 28:

When I woke up, I noticed something was different. It completely flew over my head, at first. It took me a minute or so to really wake up. My head was throbbing. It felt like I had been hit by a crowbar or something. When I finally became fully awake, I noticed what was different. It was like a bell went off in my head. I quickly sat up and looked around. The cockpit was cloaked with the dull light of the morning sun. A gentle, warm glow. With its warmth, I felt like I was at home, again.

I cannot begin to describe how thrilled I was to be waking up to the sun, finally. I was thrilled to pieces. I was _so_ fucking beside myself. I jumped up and took a gander out the window. I guess at one point, Lockdown got cleared to come back. It was so wonderful seeing the dawn, again. The orange sky and the pink clouds over the horizon. I can't forget the airfield, though. I couldn't be happier to see the airfield, again. This also means that Lockdown probably hadn't discovered the Wreckers are gone, just yet. He's going to be _pissed_ when he finds out. Absolutely _livid_ , I bet.

I fell asleep by the window, as you could probably tell. It felt strange not being in my usual spot on the armrest, but it felt familiar at the same time. The whole ship felt familiar. After we talked, Lockdown fell asleep almost instantly. He didn't bother to make me sleep on the armrest. I guess this could mean he's starting to trust me a little more since he lets me wander wherever. I feel almost… sorry. It just doesn't feel right betraying someone's trust like this, after working so hard to get it. I feel... _horrible_. If he ever finds out I was the one who did this, I know I'm going to be history, for sure.

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. I hope for the best with Topspin. I can already foresee an interrogation happening, most likely. I hope he doesn't crack and give everything away. What would they do with him, after? Would they kill him? Would they lock him up? I don't wanna think about that, right now. I put the thought out of my head and tried to shake this sinking feeling.

I tried to find a way to distract myself. I took a few more seconds taking in the view. Then, I felt a gurgle creep through my abdomen. Last time I ate was yesterday morning, and it was only a damn chocolate bar. I'm surprised I wasn't hungry, sooner. So, I opened up my bag and dumped that bitch out. I had trouble picking what I wanted. I dunno if the snacks would be a good idea, it's mostly empty calories. It wouldn't keep me full for long, either. So, I picked from what was left of the freeze-dried meals.

I'm not sure what ' _pasta pesto'_ is, but it sounds tasty, enough. I opened up my water bottle from the other day and poured a little in before taking a swig of it. I know I shouldn't be choosy, but I prefer this over tap water. _City water_ , as I call it. I had a well at my old place. It the best tasting water I ever had. I don't care what anyone says, water does not _all_ taste the same. Us water-drinkers know that. Out of nowhere, the sound of a gruff voice calling me name almost made me jump thirty-feet. I looked up, eyes wide, to see Lockdown was awake and was getting out of his slouching position on the throne.

"Don't make a mess on my floor," He said.

I glanced around. All my stuff was sprawled out around me. _How rude._ I let out a slightly nervous chuckle. I quickly gathered everything up into a neat little pile.

"So, we're back home, I see," I said in an upbeat tone. I really was excited to be back.

"Congratulations, _you have eyes_ ," He said dryly. What a smartass.

"I've… noticed…" I sheepishly stirred my fork around in the pasta before taking a small bite. To my surprise… this shit was great, actually.

The mech stood up and looked around the cockpit. One of the dogs came around the corner of the throne and looked up at him. He turned around and glanced at him before looking back up and observing the outside world. He was silent for a moment. It seemed off to me. I've noticed when he tries too hard to hide how he feels, he gets really quiet and tries to act more apathetic than usual. Maybe he was actually happy to be back? Lockdown? _Happy?_ Do those words even belong in the same sentence?

"We have to land the entire ship, today," He spoke.

I took a bite of a big fork-full of pasta. "The _whole_ ship?" I said with my mouth covered, in between chewing.

He nodded.

"Is there even space for it, down there?"

He rolled his optics "It's not going _in_ the airfield, Vega,"

I sighed and took another bite of the pasta. We sat there in silence for about a minute or so. I finished my meal and packed all my stuff away, again. It's been a long few days. With all the information I've taken in and everything I've seen, it certainly was more than I had bargained for. The dreams were the weirdest thing I had ever experienced. This was certainly a game-changer. I know things I shouldn't know, now. I saw things that not many humans saw.

These events click together, now. Almost like a flowchart of sorts. Sentinel ended up on the moon, the Autobots came, they found him, and he started the Bridge Crisis. This world-shaking event caused public outcry, and the Autobots are now outlaws. Fugitives. The humans didn't want them running around, so Lockdown came to kill them off. Marina was on Sentinel's side, and she received the shard. She then skipped town and met me, now _I_ have the shard. If it wasn't for the shard, Lockdown most likely would've never known I existed. Sentinel did in fact, spawn the root of why I'm here sitting in this ship, now.

He is the seed of this crazy butterfly effect. I'm apart of this chain, and I think that's what Sentinel wanted me to see. It's time for me to do my part and keep it going until we find a solution. Spread like a root in the soil. I don't know what to do, though. Who comes next? What am I meant to do? I have to figure something out. I have a feeling if I break this chain, something _very bad_ is going to happen.

" _Vega,_ " Lockdown spoke. The way he said my name made me shiver. It was the fucking moment he killed that guy going through my mind again. My stomach sank and twisted itself in knots. I really wish I could forget about that.

"What are you looking at?" He asked.

I realized I was staring off into space, again. "Nothing, it's just…"

He turned and walked away from the window. He sat down and pulled up his screen, again. I watched him fiddle with it for a moment, and the ship began to descend. I guess it was time to land. He didn't explain why we were bringing the whole thing down. Perhaps for maintenance? Most likely.

He stood up, again. "Come with me," He said. He turned around and made his way to the exit. I put the strap of my bag over my shoulder and chased after him. I had a feeling I knew where we were going. He took the lead and he was much farther ahead of me, no matter how hard I tried to keep up. It didn't take me long to recognize the path we were taking. We reached the entrance of the chamber with the prison cells. I watched Lockdown halt and freeze for a moment. One quick glance is all it took.

He stormed into the room and he immediately looked to his left. He stormed off in that direction and then I heard him shout loudest I think I'd ever heard. I ran like a bat out of Hell into that chamber. Lockdown had stuck his arm through the bars and had Topspin by his chest. Almost like how you grab someone by the collar of their shirt.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!" Lockdown screamed at the bot.

Topspin stayed quiet.

He peered around the room, noticing the empty cells and their raised bars. "How did this happen?!"

Still nothing.

Lockdown got fed up. He groaned and practically threw the bot to the floor of his cell. "We have to go back!"

"We don't have time," I chimed in. He whipped around and glared at me. I glanced to Topspin. He seemed surprised to hear me talk, for whatever reason. "I mean, they're expecting us at the airfield."

"Vega, they wanted _all_ of them here!" He snapped.

"Why don't you worry about Prime, first, and deal with those two, later?" I tried to reason. He didn't say anything. "He knows where Prime is, doesn't he?"

He seemed to be considering what I was saying. But then what he said shook me to my core.

"How do I know you didn't have something to do with this?"

I tried to speak, but nothing came out. It felt like my breath was squeezed out of me. I finally did think of something. "How the fuck could _I_ have done this?" I snapped. "They were all here when you sent me to talk to them!"

"You were conspiring with them, _weren't you?_ "

"If I was going to release them, I would've gone ahead and let them all go!"

"Those bastards left me behind," We were both surprised to hear the blue bot speak. Lockdown had a peculiar look on his face as he looked Topspin down. He had nothing to add.

"I'm telling you the truth!" I shouted. "I had nothing to do with this!"

Lockdown turned to look at me, again.

"The reason _you_ wanted them is that each of them knows where Prime is," I took another quick gander at Topspin. He seemed to be following where I was going, with this.

"What do you mean?" Lockdown said.

"What I mean is that one of them is all you need. There's no sense wasting more of our time hunting the others down, again," I scratched my head. "In all honesty, once you have Prime, they aren't your problem, anymore."

He squinted his optics. He looked me over a bit. "I suppose you're right," He said in a deep, flat voice.

"I just want to be done with this," I sighed. "Why do all this extra work if all you need is just one of them?"

He nodded. I don't know what we're going to tell the Col. though. When we got there and we made an attempt to do so, he didn't seem to be following. I wish I could describe the look on his face while I was trying to break it down, for him. Lockdown pretty much hogtied Topspin with some weird electric chain-looking things before he brought him to the airfield. He dragged him all the way from the ship, to the hangar where we met the Col. It was an awkward stroll, to say the least.

"So, is this… which one is this?" The Col. motioned to the sorry-looking bot.

"The blue one," I said.

"No shit, Sherlock,"

I had to use every bit of power invested in me to not say _"Fuck you, Watson."_ I scratched my head. "He's the one with the ton of weapons," I added.

"He isn't the aggressive one, is he?"

I turned around and looked at the miserable looking bot. He was dirty and slumped over. Very, very aggravated-looking. If only I could apologize.

"Doesn't look like it," I said.

"How did you guys only come up with _one_?"

"We had all three," Lockdown began. "Two of them escaped."

" _How,_ though?"

"We can back in the morning and they were just… _gone_ ," I spoke. "He won't tell us where they went."

The Col. suddenly had a stern look on his face. He nodded a few times and scratched his chin. "We'll find out one way or another," He took his cigar case out of his pocket and popped it open. He looked over his batch of cigars before plucking one out. "Just when I think I've seen it all, then this shit happens,"

"Tell me about it,"

Before I knew it, a bunch of men showed up. They were here to take Topspin away. With Lockdown's help, they didn't have much trouble carting him off. Topspin didn't even struggle or resist. It was really sad to watch. I hate to see him like this. There's nothing I could do, as of now, though. I trust he knows how he's gonna play his part. Maybe they were going to lock him up at the same place they threw Lockdown and I in when he was acting up. That's right, _The flowers incident._ Soon enough, it was just the Col. and I left there. He offered me a cigar before lighting his up, but I declined.

He took a long drag and breathed out a stream of thick, grey smoke before he spoke. "So, they really kidnapped you, huh?"

"Yeah," I couldn't think of a better way to explain it to him.

"I mean, I've heard of it happening, but now we have someone in the ranks who's experienced it, first hand," He chuckled and took another drag. "How did they get ahold of you?"

"Well, Lockdown passed out and we were jumped by a gang of Decepticons," I began. "And when they dragged us back to their cave, Lockdown woke up and fought them. I don't know what became of that, I assume he won, though."

"I believe he reported _eight_ were dealt with,"

"Christ,"

"He reported you missing not long after," He shrugged. "They couldn't fathom how you vanished so quickly."

"He told me to run back to the base and go inside. I didn't have a way of entering, though. I almost froze to death, and that's when The Wreckers showed up,"

"If it wasn't for the tire tracks, no one would have ever known what happened to you,"

I nodded. Maybe it would have been better that way.

"They're going to ask you all about that, here soon," He said as he placed the cigar on his lips. "This bot you guys brought back is going to be facing interrogation, soon. During that, they want your testimony documented." He took a drag from the cigar and lowered his arm as he exhaled the smoke. "It's a shame the rest of them ran off. The bosses aren't going to be happy about this."


	29. Another Brick in The Wall

**AN: I completely forgot how well-received this story seems to be. I'm so sorry for leaving y'all hanging for like months on end.**

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Chapter 29:

"We weren't looking to harm her- we weren't harming, _anyone_ ," I watched the blue bot thrash, desperate to escape his restraints. "We didn't even have any ammo, they took that from us _long_ ago."

Lockdown didn't seem interested in this info. "You didn't answer my question," He said in his flat tone. "What did she have that you were looking for?"

I had no idea what was going on. I just got there seconds ago.

"That shard," He replied swiftly. "It belongs to us, and you have no business using it for your own gain."

"What does your kind want with these, after so many years?" I interjected.

"Vega-!" Lockdown snapped

"The Decepticons are trying to resurrect their leader, Megatron," Topspin answered. He looked at Lockdown. "These morons are putting him back together."

Lockdown seemed appalled. "Don't speak to her!" He snapped.

"Your hunt for Prime has led you in endless circles," Topspin spoke. "You'll never find him. None of you will."

"Shut your mouth," Lockdown growled. Topspin spat something in his face and Lockdown went apeshit. He kicked the bot down and began to violently stomp on his chest. I screamed, trying to get him to stop. It was to no avail. With each kick, he stomped harder and harder and the defenseless bot was left crying out in pain each time. Lockdown finally did stop, though. The mech was left lying there with part of his chest caved in. That fluorescent blue fluid began to trickle its way out of the wound.

"I'm done with him, Vega," He growled. "I'm done with him."

" _What?_ " I shouted. He headed to the exit. "Where are you going?" The bot stormed off before I could even finish my sentence. I was befuddled. I walked in just moments ago. I was lead here by the officers who just got done interviewing me about the whole ' _kidnapping'_ situation. I was right, this was the same place they locked him and I up. Topspin was pretty banged up, I realized. He was scuffed, scraped and dented in many areas. This wasn't an interrogation, this was _torture._ I know he's just mechanical. He's not _alive_ , apparently. That's what they'd say, but I think that's bullshit. They're all just as alive as us. They're living things, they're individuals. They should never be treated like this.

I don't know whether I wanted to cry or scream. All I know is that it's best I stay away; far away from Lockdown. I just might flip my shit. I don't think I've ever been this angry at him, before. I felt vulnerable at this moment. Weak. I don't know what to do, now. The interview was long-winded. I don't consider myself a compulsive liar, or anything like that. I don't like lying to people, but I'm really fortunate I understand how to make a lie work.

My biggest issue with lying is that you have to remember your lie. You have to actively focus on keeping your story straight. It's exhausting and it requires a lot of brain power. I was sure to keep this in mind when they asked me the same questions over and over again, waiting for a goof in my tale. That's how they get you, they'll make you break it down a few times.

When you're telling a story that has a bend on the truth, you never wanna be straight forward. Typically, when you're telling a story from memory, you backtrack and remember bits and pieces that happened before the point you're at. If you go right ahead and resight every little thing in total detail in perfect order, it's going to seem rehearsed. Like you've been resighting it in your head. They'll _know_ it's a fake story.

What I told them was largest rooted in the truth. There were parts I had to leave out, though. I couldn't tell them where we were going. I couldn't tell them about the dreams or anything like that. I especially couldn't tell them how the other two Wreckers escaped. I told them a bit about the explosion. I told them what Lockdown said, they believed it was a fuse and we went back to sleep. I told them when I heard the initial explosion, I couldn't get him to wake up and his crew had to come in and notify him. By then, it was already dealt with.

Body language is another very, very important aspect. When you're dealing with the law or something like this, they're going to especially watch that carefully. One thing bad liars don't catch on to is the where their eyes are wandering to. The easiest way for me to catch a liar is when I notice them looking off to their right. That means their using the left side of their brain. The left side is often used for logical thinking or putting together information. If you're putting together a story that isn't true, you're going to be using this side of the brain.

If you notice someone looking to their left while telling you a story, they're pulling something from memory. They're using the right side. It's the littlest things that they'll take into account when you're giving testimony. Such as how often you blink, even. Isn't that crazy? But I digress. Topspin managed to get himself together and he sat up. His arms were restrained behind his back and he struggled to get up, a little.

"Bastard," He grumbled.

"I'm so sorry," I exclaimed

"It's not your fault-"

"I'm sorry all of this had to happen to you," I sighed. "It's just… I can't tell you much, right now."

He tilted his head slightly.

"I'll figure something out, I promise," I said in a low voice.

Just then, he cocked his head again and he peered toward the exit. Something must have caught his attention. "I think you need to get out of here,"

"Right,"

I turned around and looked up at the exit. It was still wide open, I realized. There was no sign of Lockdown, however, or any guards or anyone, for a matter of fact. I was still on high alert, though. I sheepishly took a few steps out. To my right, I heard footsteps and I noticed a few men coming down the hall, geared up, rifles in hand. They stopped in front of me. The man who was leading them stared at me until I spoke.

"He's done with him for now," I said. The man standing in front just nodded. He turned around and ordered a few men to escort me out. I could've found the exit myself, but I guess they didn't want me getting silly, and trying to pull anything, in here.

When I got outside, I saw it was suddenly looking cloudy. Like it was ready to snow. Just what I needed, to see _more_ snow. Like Alaska wasn't enough. I was in a pretty shitty mood. The gloomy atmosphere matched my gloomy mood pretty well, I'd say. I need to understand that as of now, there is nothing I can do. I can't be stressing myself out, too much. The airfield was a little barren, today. It looked a little foreboding, all grey, and quiet. The air was growing colder as the day was going on. The pavement was a little damp. It must have rained before we came home. I took a walk around the airfield to try and settle down. I took a few deep breaths. There's no point starting shit when you know you're never going to win. I'm only going to get myself into trouble if I run my mouth.

As I was walking, I noticed something was off. The aircrafts that normally lined the landing strip were _gone_. Straight up gone. This was weird. I was coming up to the hangar when things got a little weirder. I noticed something odd. Well, a few things, actually. First off, I noticed the Sgt. was hanging out with a group of men. That's not one of the odd things, though, but they happened to be there. They had a bunch of crates around them and some of the men were carrying them off. I guess they were unloading from the trip. It was good to know he and his crew all made it back in one piece. The odd thing was is that the hangar was open. All those planes I was talking about that are usually around the airstrip? That's where they were. I've never seen them all put away like that.

On top of that, I noticed something off in the distance. Some sort of… construction site, I guess. There were trucks and equipment, but no people around as far as I could tell. I could see wood planks and steel beams. There were little neon orange flags stuck in the ground in a line that stretched out to God-knows-where. They were planted as far as I could see. I guess they must be working on something new, here. I can't even imagine what they'd be putting her. Maybe a wall or something to keep wandering eyes out?

The Sgt. and company didn't notice me, at first. I whistled and caught the attention of a few of them.

"Afternoon, Vega," The Sgt. called. He didn't look up at me, his eyes were fixated on a clipboard in his hands. He was jotting something down.

"What's all going on?" I inquired.

"Headquarters wants their equipment back," He scratched his temple with the end of his pen. "They want it back in a certain order or some shit,"

I glanced around, watching the men carefully read and stack the crates before sending them off. The Sgt. was keeping an eye on them, too. He checked off a few things on his paper and jotted a few more things down. He seemed busy. I figured maybe it's best if I just left. Before I could, The Sgt. spoke.

"Were you wondering about the planes?" He chuckled. "I didn't know what was going on at first, either."

I looked up at the hangar and then back to him. "I was wondering about that,"

"A blizzard's gonna hit us, tonight,"

" _What?!_ "

"We're looking at a _foot_ of snow,"

"You have gotta be kidding me,"

"Oh no, not all, just when we thought we were sick of looking at the snow." He slammed his pen down on the clipboard _._ "Ain't that some shit." The pen rolled off and hit the ground with a soft ' _plink'._ I knelt down to pick up.

"Do you mind if I go in the hangar?" I said as I handed the pen back. "I've always wanted to see what's inside."

"Be my guest," He replied. He began writing again.

Needless to say, I was excited. It was actually heated inside, which was surprising. It was really nice getting out of the cold for a few minutes. I didn't think a hangar of all things would really need heat. The fluorescent lights overhead were pretty bright and reflecting even brighter off the stark-white tile floors. They were so clean. I felt bad walking on them. This hangar was massive. It was stuffed with these aircrafts. Big ones, small ones. I don't know much about planes, really, but it was still exciting to see them.

I took my time strolling through, looking at all the different planes and such. They were painted with drab colors. Dark greys, light greys, even shades of black, and olive colors. I came across one that blew my mind. It had a greyscale camo painted on it. How cool. There was maybe a couple other people, in here. I'm not sure what they were up to, they seemed to be just chatting and not really doing much. I was honestly surprised there weren't more people crawling around in here, considering it has heat.

As I was wandering, I remembered visiting that really big plane hangar museum that's apart of the Smithsonian. I was maybe fourteen or so. Despite not knowing much about aircrafts, they always caught my interest. Something about them is just fun to look at. I had such a great time there, seeing all the different planes there. They were all different colors, sizes, and even _shapes_. There are so many different varieties out there it's insane. It was really exciting getting to see an actual spacecraft that's actually been in space, at the time. I always dreamed of getting to go inside and see what it's like in a spacecraft. That's everyday life for me, now. Isn't that funny?

Once again, I found myself tripping over flat ground, all of a sudden. Luckily, I caught myself and only bumbled around a little. I realized it was a pencil on the floor that I stumbled over.

"Oh, _fuck me_!" I shouted.

"Vega, are you spewing profanity in here!?" I heard a joking voice say. It was the Sgt. coming in and he had a few guys following him.

"Excuse me, I do not spew profanity," I sneered. "I enunciate them clearly, like a _fucking_ lady." The men with him had a good giggle at that.

The Sgt. turned around. "Vega, come take a walk with us," He waved his hand and motioned for me to follow. So, I did. I hurried after the group and followed along. The cold air hit me like the fist of an angry God when we walked out. I shivered and crossed over my chest to keep warm. It was getting windier and those soft-grey clouds kept rolling in. Snow clouds. They never look the same as rain clouds or storm clouds. They're their own type of clouds, I think. It was getting a little darker, too.

We were walking to the airstrip when the Sgt. pointed to that construction site.

"Did you notice that, Vega?" He said.

I nodded. "I wanted to ask you about that-,"

"Well, that's what I needed to talk to you about," He stopped and whipped out a cigarette from his pocket. Him and the Col. sure do love smoking, huh?

"What are they doing?"

"Building a railway," One of the men spoke. He was a burly, buff guy with grey hair. I must say, he wasn't too bad looking.

" _A railway?_ "

"It's the quickest way to get goods into the city," The Sgt. lit up his cigarette. "Or so they say. I just think they want Lockdown out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"The Col. tried _everything_ to keep them out of here," He shook his head. "They know for a fact we have shit happening here that nobody should be seeing. They _know_ how much of a pain in the ass it's gonna be to relocate, but they still wanna build their fuckin' railway."

"How the hell did they get the permit to do this?"

"The state doesn't want him here, either," He took a drag of his cigarette. "They don't give a shit about us or how hard it's gonna be to find a base for him."

"So now what?"

"We're going to have to relocate him to some other base," He flicked a few ashes off. "Who the fuck wants him, though?" He glanced at me. "He's probably gonna try to drag you along, too,"

 _Relocate?_ How are we gonna relocate? He's right, who the fuck wants to take us? What are they going to do with Topspin? What are they going to do with _me?_ Things can't possibly get any worse.


	30. A Pillow of Winds

**AN: It's me, bitch. I'm back after not updating in many many months. Please don't hate me uwu Finally getting closer to the fucking end of this. I can finally put this bitch to rest and start writing the other parts that go to this story.**

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Chapter 30:

Things just keep getting worse. I don't know how it keeps happening, but things just keep finding ways. The morning started out shittily enough. I awoke to the lovely sound of Lockdown shouting a single phase.

" _Goddammit!"_

You would've thought I was about to have a seizure if you saw how hard I twitched. If I had twitched any harder, I would've rolled off the armrest. I laid there wide-eyed for a moment. I sat up and looked at the mech. He must have forgotten I existed and I have ears. Maybe he just didn't care. At this point, I'm not sure.

I felt a shiver creep its way up my back. The room was dim and grey and it was freezing. I saw his screen was pulled out in front of him, but its usual green glow wasn't there. Something's not right. I noticed his gaze was fixed straight ahead of him. He was looking out the window. When I turned my head to look looked, I sighed deeply. The airfield was blanketed in a thick layer of snow. _Fucking bullshit._ I knew this was coming, yet I acted like it was a _surprise_ or something.

"Sick of the snow, too?" I called out to the mech. During this, I noticed all the other screens that lined the window were all mysteriously gone, as well. Just like when I first came to the ship.

"It's not that," He said dryly. "We lost power."

It clicked. It didn't make any sense, though. "The fuck you mean _the power's out_?" Lockdown was caught off guard by this. He slowly turned his head and glared at me. "This ship can go through the vacuum of space, but yet _snow_ knocks the power out?"

"First off, I didn't ask you to say a _goddamn_ thing-!"

He was interrupted when a series of several ' _thuds'_ coming from the floor rattled the ship. He and I exchanged glances.

"What was that?"

"Everything is powering down!"

"Good thing we're landed, huh?" I snorted. He didn't seem amused.

"It must have been down for hours, at this point," He stood up from his throne and turned around. Without looking, he reached over and snatched me up out of my spot. "The whole thing doesn't just power down like that."

He began to sulk to the exit with me in his fist. I squirmed until I could see behind us. I glanced back at my bag and all my things, still on the armrest. I let out a short groan, as I was kinda hungry. The dogs were watching us. Both of them were sitting at attention, waiting for instructions, perhaps. When Lockdown reached the doorway, they stood up and followed us.

The power must have quit in the middle of the night, while we were asleep. I guess Lockdown only realized when he tried to pull up his screen. The ship seemed dead in the darkness. The usual dim, warm lights that bleed through the wall structures were gone. It made it feel more eerie than usual. The entire ship was silent, void of the sounds of machinery, except for the occasional loud ' _thud'_ that came from down below. Lockdown's footsteps echoed loudly among the corridors. Despite his frustration moments ago, he didn't seem to be in a hurry.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Main engine shelter," He replied. Lockdown knew this ship like the back of his hand, I can tell. As he walked, he didn't feel the need to hesitate or second guess the turns he was making. In a massive ship like this, it's certainly not hard to get lost, I'll tell you that. Then again, Lockdown has spent many, many centuries navigating this thing.

The main engine shelter… I don't think that's an area I've been in yet. When I asked him where this was, his answer was kind of vague.

"It's on the deck below us, the main engines, that is,"

"Oh, the big round ones on the front of the ship?"

"Exactly," He said with a nod.

The engine shelter was kind of unsettling, that's the best way I can describe it. Well, the whole ship is unsettling, but this was a whole new kind of scary. Like, a horror movie scary. Have you ever been in the containment tunnels of an abandoned hospital? Like Pennhurst, or something. It was like that, almost, but more _mechanical_. The walls were practically see-through, as they were made entirely of the pipe structures like on the upper levels, just less compact. It was less like walls and more like dividers.

There was a whole lot of the color bronze. The floor was coated in a layer of grey soot and I was practically heaving. It was just so hot and stuffy, down here. I couldn't even begin to imagine how it would feel in this general area the engines running. In contrast to the upper deck, it was pretty noisy, down here. I could hear the maintenance bots walking and working. Some of them were speaking. I watched them through the walls as they worked. I slumped lower into Lockdown's fist. I _did not_ like it down here.

It was getting hotter and hotter as we came closer and closer to the engines itself. I tried to pace my breathing as best as I could. I hope I wasn't breathing in anything toxic. Lockdown could unknowingly be killing me, right now. I just couldn't stop focusing on my breathing, and that was making it even _harder_ to breathe. That was until an eardrum-shattering 'thud' roared throughout the shelter. I yelped and covered my face. Lockdown was even startled by this, but he kept going.

I kept my face covered. I could feel my skin was burning hot. Lockdown stopped and released me onto the floor by his feet. We were met with a huge chamber containing a _massive_ engine in the center. I can't fully explain the mass of this thing. Not in a way you could picture it clearly, at least. All of its parts were situated in an enormous trench that winded around the whole room and leads back to one big pit where the engine sat. Over the top of those trenches were many catwalks and platforms.

It was pretty dark in here. It felt like my face was being blown by fire. I left my inhaler in the cockpit. I wish I knew I was going to need it. I took a wheezy breath in. "Lockdown…" I huffed.

He turned and looked at me. "What is it?" It only took him a second to realize something was wrong. "We won't be here long," He said. He motioned with his hand for me to follow him. "Come."

I walked with him as best as I could. Another ' _thud'_ boomed. I halted completely to cover my ears and pressed my eyes shut, trying to block out the noise. When it was over, I heard a loud ringing. Lockdown tried not to seem phased, but I know he flinched, too.

We got up on the catwalk and I had to physically climb each step on the stairwell. I just barely made it up the third step, when Lockdown noticed I hadn't caught up. I bet he could hear me wheezing behind him. He turned around and plucked me up from the step and placed me on his shoulder. We crossed over the trenches, and I wrapped my arms around a metal piece protruding from his neck. I didn't want to be falling, here. I leaned out a little to take a look over the right side of the catwalk. There was a thick tangle of wires and a row of turbines, I think. They looked like giant saw blades. I swallowed hard and clung tighter to that metal piece.

Lockdown went to the left ledge for a second. He peeked over the edge as he wrapped his fingers around the railing. I could see a group of bots in the pit, standing right next to the engine. There was a super long ladder behind them leaning against the side of the pit. It seemed they had pulled a few panels off the engine. Some off the bottom, and some up really high. Just then, I heard a high-pitched noise. Like a sparking noise. I could see sparks trickling down, coming from up high. I looked up and noticed a feminine bot clinging to the side of it, with… a blowtorch? Maybe some sort of welding tool? She was working on one of those spots with the panel ripped out. Whatever took it was, she seemed to be hard working on something, in there.

We crossed the catwalk and he headed for the side of the pit. I could make out maybe _fifteen_ bots or so, all crowded in one spot, down there. Lockdown walked to the ladder and gripped the railing before he spoke to me.

"Hold on," He mumbled.

I guess the ladder was much to _mainstream_ for him because he jumped. I screamed. Loud. That on top of the Earth-shaking sound of him landing caught the whole crew's attention.

All of them turned around and saluted him immediately. Lockdown said something to them, but I don't know what. They all began speaking in that weird language, again. I liked it better when they spoke English, that one time. I guess whatever is going on here is none of my business. They were standing straight and confident-looking as they spoke. They probably have dealt with this before. I heard that welding sound, again. I watched that bot doing whatever it was she was doing for a more few minutes while they were chatting. I couldn't quite see what she was doing. It was kind of intriguing watching the light flicker and the sparks fly and fizzle out.

Finally, it was silent for a moment. I turned and looked at Lockdown, hoping for some sort of insight. He turned his head and just gave me a blank look. Like he didn't know what I was expecting from him. He looked away back at his crew and began to speak again, nodding a few times. Whatever it was, they must have it under control. I looked over to see that one. Fucking. Bot. The one I saw when I snuck into the ship. The one that looks like Lockdown.

Just… staring at me. Why does he do that? He slowly raised his arms and pointed at both sides of his head for whatever reason. I raised a brow. I had no idea what the hell he was doing. Suddenly, his optics widened, almost like it was urgent. Then, it hit me. I quickly covered my ears and the instant I did that, another thunderous ' _thud'_ rang out, causing all the bots to recoil. It was indescribably loud, this time, even with my ears covered it was unbearable.

I was starting to get a headache and my ears were ringing loudly. Good call from that bot, though. Maybe I'm a little too mean when I talk about him. I really didn't want to be down here, much longer. I was hoping Lockdown would hurry up and get done so we can leave. I looked back up at the welding bot. She was gone. Did she fall off?! I was looking around, but I couldn't find any sign of her. I felt kind of bad, but part of me wanted to laugh, as well. I sure am an asshole.

Just like that, I saw more sparks, suddenly. They were coming from _inside_ , now. She must have crawled into that opening. I don't know how she could stand it, though. You'd think the sound would be louder if you were inside. Maybe she was deaf?

Lockdown suddenly turned around and headed for the ladder. We were finally _DONE_ down here. I sighed in relief as he ascended the ladder and climbed up to the platform. We could not possibly get out of there fast enough. I can't explain to you how good it felt getting out of the shelter. The cold air from the upper deck hit me like a sledgehammer to the face. I must be a masochist, cause it felt so good. I could breathe again.

I was still slightly wheezy, but I was doing fine. A hit of my inhaler could fix it. I guess whatever fumes were down there weren't enough to kill me. Yet, at least. We were passing through the corridors and I was feeling much better. I asked Lockdown what was going on.

"The storm threw off the engine's calibration," He began. "When one of them goes down, the other cuts off."

"How long do we wait?" I asked him.

"The ship won't be going anyway for awhile. In the meantime, they'll be booting up backup generators for the ship's other functions."

"Like electricity and such?"

"Yes."

Everything was fine and well. That was until something caught my eye. _Motion._ Just in the corner of my eye, I saw something dart. I let out a sharp gasp and Lockdown stopped. He saw it, too. The two of us were speechless, but we both knew something was wrong. It was totally silent around us. Lockdown quickly jerked around when he heard something rattle. This was _not_ normal.

"What-…?" He muttered. Oh no, something wasn't right. If Lockdown's worried, something is up. My eyes slowly scanned around the room. Taking in every detail. Every crack, every space. Until a pair of eyes met with mine. I let out another gasp and they were gone, just like that.

" _What do you see?_ "

That was no bot. That was no drone. That was no animal. Those were _human_ eyes.

"Somebody is-..."

Lockdown pick me up off his shoulder, and as quietly and slowly as he could, set me on the ground beside him.

Then, what I said registered to him. " _Somebody?_ " He said in a hushed voice.

"Somebody," I whispered back. I could see malice growing in his expression. Suddenly, I could see those eyes, again. They were just to my left, hiding in the walls. Those eyes were clear and so was the face.

It was a man. His eyes were blue and his hair was long and blonde. His skin was pale. Whether it was from fear or just how it is was beyond me. But one thing was clear. He had made a horrible, _horrible_ mistake.

Like a cat in the dark, Lockdown pounded and jammed his hand through the opening in the walls. The man narrowly escaped his grasp, but he was knocked out onto the floor in front of us. He looked like a mouse in shock. His eyes were wide and his mouth was agape, looking at the ebony mech before him. He was unable to scream. Lockdown quickly rose to his feet before planting a foot over the man's chest.

You would've thought I teleported with how fast I was over there. I grabbed the man's arms, desperately pulling at him, trying to free him.

"Lockdown, stop!" I shrieked. "What are you doing?!"

"This man is a fool. He's probably a spy. He should have never come here," He said coldly. "I'm sending him back to _Hell_ , where he belongs."

"You don't _know_ that!" I retaliated.

"Why else would he have come here?" He pressed down harder causing the man to choke and gasp for air.

I didn't know what to do. I wanted to scream. He pisses me off so much, sometimes. I looked down at the man. I noticed something. I couldn't fucking believe it. He had a Cemetery Wind badge hooked to his collar. My jaw dropped.

"Lockdown! He's one of the Sgt.'s guys!" I exclaimed. The bot's tilted his head. "His badge!" He squinted his optics. Then his expression dropped. He quickly removed his foot and the man gasped for air as he sat up.

"Oh my god… oh fuck," I mumbled. Lockdown is so fucked if they find out about this. "How did you wind up here?" I asked him.

The man was trying to catch his breath, for a moment. "They… left me!" He said in between breaths.

" _Huh?_ "

"It's been a week!" He exclaimed. "I've been trapped in here a _week_!"

I understood, now, but it was all so surreal. He must have been coming along for the Alaska mission. I guess when the crew departed, he was left behind.

"Oh Lordy," I rubbed my temples. "You've been running around this ship for days… with nothing to eat and nothing to drink?"

"Yes!"

Lockdown had perhaps the most puzzled expression on his face. He didn't say a thing, though.

"Please, can you not tell the Col. about this? It's just that Lockdown doesn't need to be getting himself into more hot water-" I pleaded.

The man groaned.

"I'll feed you! Come back to the cockpit, I have food and-"

"I don't want another one in the cockpit!" Lockdown intervened. "I don't want you little monsters multiplying!"

"Wait- Lockdown! What the hell do you-?!"

"What the fuck is happening?!" The man chimed in.

My headache was worsening. "Let me handle this," I said to him. I looked back up at Lockdown. "Listen, we probably shouldn't just be throwing him in a cage, somewhere, that isn't going to make you look any better."

"I shouldn't have to deal with Gunther's mistakes," He spoke.

"That doesn't matter! What matters is doing the right thing, and getting him back to the airfield! If he tells anyone what you did, just now, we're going to be _fucked_."

He seemed to be following.

"We can take the dropship and get him to the airfield, but let's just get him some food, first, I'm sure he's actually starving,"

Lockdown seemed reluctant, but he nodded. And with that, we took our unhappy ' _guest'_ to the cockpit. It felt like it got even colder in there. I huddled my arms to my chest, trying to keep warm, a little. He set us both down on the floor by the throne. It was still quite early. I guess it was time for me to eat, as well.

"Could I have my..."

Lockdown pinched the strap of my bag and picked it up before I could finish. He dropped it in front of us before he sat down on the throne. He leaned into his palm and pulled up his screen. It wasn't lit up. He lazily tapped at it a few times before realizing it wasn't coming on. The generators must not have kicked in, yet, to his dismay. He shoved the screen away and boredly stared out the window.

"Charming, ain't he?" I joked to the man. He gave me a sarcastic snicker before sitting down in front of me. He was shivering slightly. He was well-bundled, in a thick, brown, wool coat, but the frigid air was getting to him, too. I sat down as well and emptied the contents of my bag. I laid out a few of the freeze-dried meals and he immediately snatched up that lasagna. Now, that's a whole entire lasagna, and I told him this, but it didn't deter him. He was determined to eat that whole-ass lasagna by himself.

Before I picked anything, I took a hit of my inhaler. I felt better almost instantly, now that my airways were nice and clear. I knew exactly what I wanted to eat. This one I was saving. Mac and cheese. My go-to comfort food, as basic as it sounds. I really do love different foods, exotic foods especially, but nothing beats mac and cheese. Such a simple dish. I'm a bit of a connoisseur of mac and cheese. I don't like that processed shit out of the box, I like it from scratch, though I don't mind eating the frozen kind that you heat, either. Now, I have no idea how this is gonna taste, but how can you mess up mac and cheese? As much as I dislike the kind that comes in a box with that cheese powder or whatever, it's at least edible. It still resembles mac and cheese. It's impossible to fuck up.

"You're that girl ' _Vega_ ' I've been hearing about, aren't you?" The man said, breaking my train of thought.

I tilted my head. "Yeah, that's me," I said. Has there been talk of me around the base? I guess so. I mean, I guess I don't blame anyone who's spoken about me. I'm the girl working directly with Lockdown himself. The girl that he picked up off the street one day like a _hooker_. Maybe not the best comparison. A stray a dog would be better, but not as funny of a thought.

"I don't think I've seen you before," I said, "What's your name?"

He reached over and picked up two bottles of water, first. He cracked the first one open and chugged it in seconds. When he finished he sighed in relief. It must have felt amazing tasting water after so long.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Sirius,"

"Oh wow, star buddies!" I laughed.

He laughed too. I reached over and picked up a water bottle of my own. My last one. I opened it up and poured a little into the packet of pasta. I dug out a fork and stirred it a little before I spoke, again.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Well," Sirius was adding water to his meal, now. "We heard Sgt. Gunther scream. I left to go find him. When I came back, everyone was gone."

"Oh,"

"I was wandering for days trying to find an exit or something. I got lost,"

"Understandable," I sighed. "It's almost impossible to navigate unless you're…" I motion to Lockdown. "...him."

Sirius laughed. "I can't explain how _fucked_ it was, trying to figure out where I was going," He crushed the water bottle in his hands and set the flattened piece of plastic in front of him. He then picked up the full one. "It wasn't easy crawling through those walls. I thought I'd never make it out of-" He suddenly froze. I wasn't sure why at first.

I looked up to see one of the dogs creeping up behind him. He was sniffing his hair, a little. Just then, the dog snaked his head over Sirius's shoulder and sniffed at the other water bottle in his hand. Sirius was frozen in fear. He was as still as a rock as the dog was investigating him. Just then, the other one walked up.

"Hey! Stop that!" I shouted. The two dogs stopped. Then, they stepped over him and began coming toward me. "What are you doing?" One of them flopped into my lap, and the other licked my cheek once and then sat down. These dogs are as heavy as hell. The pup was practically crushing my legs, but I didn't have the heart to try and shove him off. Imagine a dog that's as big as a person pretending to be a lapdog.

I glanced at my pile of stuff, again. Sirius then reached over and plucked a fork out from under my yarn. I never knew I had a second fork. I wonder why I packed two…

After the dogs settled, I finally took a bite of my mac and cheese. It was delicious, just like I hypothesized. Then suddenly, the dog sitting behind me leaned over and plucked the fork right out of my hand with his teeth. I watched in disbelief as he chewed it right up and swallowed it.

" _Excuse me?_ " I huffed. He gave me a dopey, blank look.

I had to resort to just trying to _drink_ the mac and cheese out of the bag. It was as weird as it sounds. I didn't waste much time devouring my meal, but it was nothing compared to the likes of Sirius practically inhaling that entire lasagna by himself. I was impressed. He seemed a lot happier now that he was fed. He must have been one of those kinds of people. Angry as fuck when their hungry, but happy when they're fed.

After eating and stuffing all of my things back into my bag, Lockdown brought us to the dropship. It was fortunate that the storm didn't harm it, any. The wind was wicked and the snow was falling fast. The last thing I'd want is to have to walk in this shit. I'm not gonna lie, though, it was kind of cool to see the airfield covered in snow. A little weird though, seeing it so empty.

When we arrived on base, men were digging out the airstrip. Judging how bad the storm is, I can't imagine how many times they've had to do this, today. I wasn't sure why they were digging it out if they weren't gonna use it. They probably had a reason for it. I was really fortunate that I packed a scarf. A nice, soft, snuggly one. It white and was made of such fuzzy yarn that it almost resembled the snow itself.

Lockdown was giving off some different energy. He seemed defeated. Like, _totally_ defeated. I think he knows he did something stupid. He wasn't ready to face it - that is if Sirius decides to nark on him.

I knew for a fact the Col. wouldn't be out here dealing with this. He was probably in his warm office doing some paperwork or something. I knew where I'd find the Sgt., though. He was right there by airstrip _watching_ his men working hard. Well, in his defense, he did have a shovel in his hands. Maybe he was taking a break or something. Or doing the most important job, _supervising_. Lockdown chose to stay behind. The last person he wanted to see right now was the Sgt.

Sirius and I trudged through the snowy path and came up behind him. "Uh, Sgt.?" I cooed sheepishly.

He turned around. "Vega! I-" He made eye contact with Sirius for a second. I can't describe the look on his face. "What the hell?!"

"Uh, yeah, about that-" I babbled.

"Where the hell have _you_ been?" The Sgt. exclaimed.

"On the ship!" Sirius replied.

"We didn't know if you died, or _what!_ " The Sgt. began. "We thought we left you in Alaska! They're still searching their base for you!"

"Are we just gonna gloss over the fact he's been stuck in the Knightship for days?" I added.

" _Sweet merciful fucking Lord,_ " The Sgt. mumbled. "How did you not die? How did this happen?"

"Well," Sirius sighed. "I went to look for you, I thought you were in danger!"

"When that thing was wrapped around your leg, remember?" I said.

I could tell the Sgt.'s mind had been blown. "Vega, you need to take him to the Col. and tell him he's alive. The crew at the base in Alaska has been going _bonkers_ because they could not find any trace of him." He rubbed the side of his head. "I cannot believe this… I can't believe Lockdown didn't try to kill you…"

"Aha…"

With that, I ushered Sirius away. We swiftly walked across the airfield to the office building. I opened the door and I felt a wave of warmth when we entered. The waiting room was colorless as always, but it smelled more homely than usual. It smelled like pine and cinnamon. Like _Christmas_ or _Thanksgiving_ , even. Sometimes a certain smell will make me think of something. It made me think of home. One of those smells that, no matter how near or how far I am from home, it never fails to take me back there. For a moment, at least.

It made me think of fruitcake and cookies. Opening gifts and giving them out to people I love, as well. Roast turkey, warm nights. I felt so peaceful for those few seconds. That was until I heard the creaking of a door opening. I had literally no fucking clue who this was coming out of the Col.'s office. He looked me right in the eye and smiled at me like a long-lost friend or something.

"Vega?" He spoke. I know I recognized the voice from somewhere...

"Yeah, that's me," I said cautiously.

"Nice to see you," He walked up to me and shook my hand. "I need to speak with you."

Sirius and I exchanged looks. Just then, the Col. poked his head out of the office and his eyes grew wide.

"Pvt. Müller?!" He exclaimed.

"Col. Ambrose, I-"

"What the hell happened to you?!"

"Well, it's a long story-"

"Come on back here! We thought you were dead!"

"Right away, Colonel…" Sirius put his hand on my shoulder as he slipped past me and he sulked into the Col.'s office. The door shut behind him and I was left alone with this weirdo.

"I have I met you?" I asked the strange man.

"You have, but I don't believe we've met in the flesh, however," He said. Then it clicked.

"Oh!" I gasped. "You work with Lockdown, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Attinger?"

"Yes,"

"Right," I scratched my head. "Did you need something?"

"Well, I heard your mission in Alaska was… quite something," He raised an eyebrow. "Tell me about it."

I didn't know where to begin, to be honest. I broke it down as best as I could. Remember when I talked about bending the truth? About not making it obvious you're leaving something out? That stuff is hard to remember. Timeline of events, body language. It requires so much energy, especially when they ask you the same question over and over again. Which he did. About the Autobot ' _kidnapping_ ' mainly.

"You aren't the first it's happened to," He said in response.

"I've heard," I gave a nervous laugh.

"And you've been working closely with Lockdown, I see? He's told you everything?"

"Yes, as far as I know. Hell, I'm here to help him put his plans in motion,"

"Wow, we really can't have you walking around, can we?"

"That's what the Col. thinks, too," I said. "It was reckless for me to let myself be snatched up, like that."

He interrupted me with a question.

"Vega, have you ever been _shot,_ before?"

I was a little taken aback by this question. I gave him a peculiar look. "I… can't say I have,"

"Well, that's going to change, today."

Before I could even process what the fuck I just heard, he whipped out a gun right then and there. It's like time stopped when I spotted the hilt come out of his pocket. It was just me and him staring each other down. He pulled a few bullets out of that same pocket. The time he spent loading it allowed me time to escape. Faster than you could say _'premature fatality'_ , I was out of that door and on the other side of the building.

I heard the door swing open and hit the side of the brick building. I could hear his footsteps crunch in the snow. My heart was fucking pounding. Did this bastard really just threaten to kill me?! What for? Was I in the way of something? None of that shit matters, now. I needed to find Lockdown _fast._ As quiet as a mouse and as fast as a bullet, I snuck my way around the building until I was close to the airfield. The Sgt. was still there with his men.

I sighed in relief. I highly doubt this clown would off me right in front of everyone. I took a mad dash to the crew and the Sgt. turned around to see me running like a bat out of hell.

"Vega?" He called out. "What did the Col. say?"

"Nothing-!" I called back. "Where's Lockdown?!"

"Haven't seen him," He said. "What's going on with you?"

"I don't know if I should tell you,"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just," My eyes shifted nervously. "I don't know what's happening."

And with that, I dashed off into the storm. I stormed passed the hangar only to realize Lockdown was hanging out behind it. I turned around and sprinted back. There the bot was, leaning against the hangar with his arms crossed. He didn't look as sorry as he did, earlier.

"Lockdown!" I cried.

He nonchalantly turned and looked at me. "The fuck's your problem?"

"Listen!" I lowered my voice a little. "We need to leave _now_! Attinger tried to fucking kill me!"

He blinked at me a few times. "What?"

"Attinger!"

"What's he doing here?"

"Well, he said he had to talk to me, and he asked me about you and asked about what you told me and-"

"He tried to kill you?"

"Well, he asked me if I've ever been shot before and he pulled out a gun,"

He squinted his optics. "Where is he?

"I don't know, but-"

"Vega!" I heard his voice, suddenly. I dashed behind Lockdown's foot for cover. "Why did you run off like that? I thought we were having a chat." There was pure _smugness_ dripping off his voice.

I couldn't think of anything to say. I looked up at Lockdown who was looking at him, now.

"What did you do to her?" He asked.

"Nothing!"

"She said you almost killed her,"

"I don't know what she's talking about,"

"You pulled a gun on me!" I interjected.

"No, I didn't!" Attinger shouted at me.

"Yes, you do!" I shouted backed.

"No, I didn't!"

Lockdown watched the two of us bicker for a moment before intervening. "Vega, what is the meaning of this?"

"Nothing!" I snapped. "Why would I be making this up? He came out of the Col.'s office, asked me a few questions, and he pulled a gun out-!"

"You are _such_ a liar," Attinger scoffed.

Lockdown wasn't amused. He plucked me off the ground and took me back to the dropship. Disregard the last time I said it because I was wrong. But I'm positive, now. Things _cannot_ get any worse, from here.


End file.
